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Canada's great, shareable storiesTue, 31 Mar 2015 22:05:29 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/15edae77ebfa450ee5bb897103fdef31?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png » Government and Politicshttp://o.canada.com
Quebec to go it alone after Supreme Court orders end to gun-registry datahttp://o.canada.com/news/quebec-to-go-it-alone-after-supreme-court-orders-end-to-gun-registry-data
http://o.canada.com/news/quebec-to-go-it-alone-after-supreme-court-orders-end-to-gun-registry-data#commentsFri, 27 Mar 2015 19:02:26 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=600113&preview_id=600113]]>OTTAWA — Political and legal faultlines separated the Harper Conservatives from the federal Liberals and Quebec on Friday after the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the destruction of the province’s gun registry data.

By a 5-4 margin, the high court gave the federal government the right to order the destruction of Quebec’s federal gun registry data — but all three Quebec judges on the court disagreed.

The ruling was a rare vindication of the Conservative government’s agenda at the country’s highest court, and it also exposed a legal divide on its bench over the powers of the provinces versus those of the federal government.

In a dramatic show of solidarity, the Quebec justices on the Supreme Court — Clement Gascon, Richard Wagner and Louis LeBel — put their names on a dissenting opinion that upheld the right of the provinces to make laws in relation to property and civil rights.

They lost to the majority, which ruled that destroying the data was a lawful exercise of Parliament’s legislative power to make criminal law under the Constitution.

The Supreme Court firmly upheld the notion that as long as the government operates within the law, it is free to enact whatever policies it deems appropriate. It was a clear signal from the court that it wanted to remain above the inevitable political fire storm that erupted after the ruling.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper happened to be at an event in Quebec on Friday, where he expressed satisfaction with the ruling.

“We have permitting — in other words, we have registration — of all gun owners in Canada already. We have registration of all handguns already. We have registration of all restricted weapons already. We already have several registers,” Harper said.

“Our view –and I think it’s been borne out by the facts — is that we simply don’t need another very expensive and not effective registry. What we have needed are severe, strong and more effective penalties for people who commit criminal acts using guns, and that’s what we’ve done.”

Quebec Public Security Minister Lise Theriault, on the other hand, rejected the court’s decision.

The united opinion of the three Quebec justices reflects the views of people in the province, and the province will proceed with its own gun registry, Theriault said.

The Liberal government created the gun registry in 1998 in response to the murder of 14 women at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique in 1989. They were targeted by a gunman because of their gender.

The Harper government abolished the registry for long guns in 2011 as part of a long-standing campaign promise — a controversial political move that also emphasized Canada’s rural-urban divide.

Liberal MP Stephane Dion, the party’s intergovernmental affairs critic, chastised the Conservatives for not allowing Quebec to keep the data.

“From a political perspective, I would agree that it’s very bad federalist to not co-operate with the province in giving the data,” he said. “It would not have been difficult for the Conservative government to do so.”

Wendy Cukier founded the Coalition for Gun Control after the 1989 Montreal massacre, and became the country’s leading firearms registration crusader.

Standing in the vast marble foyer of the Supreme Court, Cukier said she was “terribly disappointed” that a “punitive” government policy had cleared its last legal hurdle.

“The Supreme Court has made it clear that the decision to destroy the data is a political decision,” she said. “You can track a package you’re sending from here to anywhere in the world, and yet we will not have information on who owns guns in the province of Quebec.”

The Harper government and the Supreme Court have had their differences in the past, notably over the high court’s decision to reject the government’s nomination of Quebec judge Marc Nadon to its ranks.

The Supreme Court also rebuked some core government policy, saying Parliament does not have the power to reform the Senate, or prevent a Vancouver safe-injection drug site from staying open to treat addicts over the objection of the tough-on-crime Conservatives.

But in this case, the high court — notwithstanding the objections of its Quebec jurists — sided firmly with the government in its long-standing policy of wanting to kill the gun registry.

“In our view, the decision to dismantle the long-gun registry and destroy the data that it contains is a policy choice that Parliament was constitutionally entitled to make,” wrote Thomas Cromwell and Andromache Karakastanis for the majority, a group that included Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/quebec-to-go-it-alone-after-supreme-court-orders-end-to-gun-registry-data/feed0SCOC-Gun-Registry-20150327.jpgthecanadianpressThreat phoned in on Obama’s niece, a player for Princetonhttp://o.canada.com/sports/threat-phoned-in-on-obamas-niece-a-player-for-princeton
http://o.canada.com/sports/threat-phoned-in-on-obamas-niece-a-player-for-princeton#commentsTue, 24 Mar 2015 00:51:13 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=599334&preview_id=599334]]>COLLEGE PARK, Md. — A threat against President Barack Obama’s niece, a player on Princeton’s women’s basketball team, prompted increased security at the Tigers’ NCAA Tournament game at Maryland, said a person familiar with the situation says

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Monday night because no details had been released about the threat.

Princeton was facing Maryland in the second round of the tournament Monday night at the Terrapins’ arena. On Saturday, President Obama attended Princeton’s 80-70 victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round.

Princeton freshman forward Leslie Robinson is Obama’s niece. Her father, Craig Robinson, is the brother of first lady Michelle Obama.

A phone message threatening Leslie Robinson was left at Maryland and the threat was taken seriously, according to the person who spoke to the AP.

The threat was first reported by USA Today.

Neither the president nor the first lady attended Monday’s game, although Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan sat near Princeton’s bench.

GENEVA — In a delay that some say may have cost lives, the World Health Organization resisted calling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency until last summer, two months after staff raised the possibility and long after a senior manager called for a drastic change in strategy, The Associated Press has learned.

Among the reasons the United Nations agency cited in internal deliberations: worries that declaring such an emergency — akin to an international SOS — could anger the African countries involved, hurt their economies or interfere with the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

Those arguments struck critics, experts and several former WHO staff as wrong-headed.

“That’s like saying you don’t want to call the fire department because you’re afraid the fire trucks will create a disturbance in the neighbourhood,” said Michael Osterholm, a prominent infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota.

In public comments, WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan has repeatedly said the epidemic caught the world by surprise.

“The disease was unexpected and unfamiliar to everyone, from (doctors) and laboratory staff to governments and their citizens,” she said in January. Last week, she told an audience in London that the first sign that West Africa’s Ebola crisis might become a global emergency came in late July, when a consultant fatally ill with the disease flew from Liberia to a Nigerian airport.

But internal documents obtained by AP show that senior directors at the health agency’s headquarters in Geneva were informed of how dire the situation was early on and held off on declaring a global emergency. Such an alert is meant to trigger a surge in outside help, or, as a WHO document put it, “ramps up political pressure in the countries affected” and “mobilizes foreign aid and action.”

When WHO experts discussed the possibility of an emergency declaration in early June, one director viewed it as a “last resort.”

The delay in declaring an emergency was one of many critical problems that hobbled the agency’s ability to contain the epidemic. When aid agency Doctors Without Borders warned Ebola was spiraling out of control, WHO contradicted it, even as WHO’s own scientists called for backup. When WHO did send staffers to West Africa, they were of mixed calibre. Fellow responders said many lacked Ebola experience; one WHO consultant who got infected with Ebola broke his own agency’s protocol, putting others at risk and getting WHO kicked out of a hotel, the AP found.

In an email Thursday, WHO said: “People often confuse the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern with our operational response. It is very different. WHO mounted a strong operational response a year ago when we were notified the outbreak was Ebola.”

WHO is the only agency with the authority to lead a global response to health crises, by providing medical, laboratory and other support when there are outbreaks of unusual or new diseases. Its handling of the Ebola epidemic has been roundly criticized and led to a new call for reforms. The vacuum of leadership at WHO was so damaging the U.N. created the Mission for Ebola Emergency Response to take over the overall fight against the disease.

Dr. Sylvie Briand, head of the pandemic and epidemic diseases department at WHO, acknowledged that her agency made wrong decisions but said postponing the alert made sense at the time because it could have had catastrophic economic consequences.

“What I’ve seen in general is that for developing countries it’s sort of a death warrant you’re signing,” she said.

As Ebola continued to spread in the summer, the situation on the ground grew increasingly desperate, with only a fraction of the needed treatment beds available in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Some regions didn’t even have enough soap and water; patients were literally dying outside the gates of Ebola clinics as foreign mine workers evacuated and neighbouring countries restricted travel.

By the time WHO declared an international emergency, nearly 1,000 people were already dead. Overall, more than 10,000 are thought to have died in the year since the outbreak was announced.

Chan, the WHO leader, declined interview requests with AP for this story. But Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO’s top Ebola official, said labeling the Ebola outbreak a global emergency would have been no magic bullet.

“What you would expect is the whole world wakes up and goes, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a terrible problem, we have to deploy additional people and send money,”‘ he said. “Instead what happened is people thought, ‘Oh my goodness, there’s something really dangerous happening there and we need to restrict travel and the movement of people.”‘

Former WHO doctor Matthieu Kamwa said that logic doesn’t fly. Kamwa, who worked as the agency’s representative to the Democratic Republic of Congo during a 2008 Ebola outbreak, said sounding the alarm sooner would have saved lives.

“People died because things were not done,” he said.

——

FILE – In this Monday, May 19, 2014 file photo, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Margaret Chan sits before the opening of the 67th World Health Assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. In a delay that some say may have cost lives, the World Health Organization resisted calling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency until the summer of 2014, two months after staff raised the possibility and long after a senior manager called for a drastic change in strategy, The Associated Press has learned. [AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi, File]

‘THE TIP OF AN ICEBERG’

WHO announced the discovery of Ebola in Guinea on March 23, when it posted a two-sentence update on its website saying a “rapidly evolving outbreak” had been confirmed after months of mysterious deaths in the nation’s forest region and capital city, Conakry. The virus typically overpowers the immune system, causing leaks in blood vessels that can lead to organ failure and shock. There is no licensed treatment or vaccine and the death rate can be as high as 90 per cent.

The signs this was no ordinary outbreak were there from the beginning, and many are recorded in a memo sent to WHO’s Africa director on March 25: The virus had never been seen in Guinea before; health workers were dying, panic was setting in and reports of infections had already come in from neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Its spread to Conakry was particularly disturbing.

“From the start we were very worried about cases in the capital,” said Briand, the WHO official. “We told ourselves: ‘From the capital it can go elsewhere.”‘

In mid-April, by which point there had been at least 100 deaths in Guinea, an experienced Ebola expert with WHO’s Africa office wrote to a Geneva staffer saying the situation had taken a critical turn: many health workers at the capital’s Donka Hospital had been exposed to the virus.

“What we see is the tip of an iceberg,” said Jean-Bosco Ndihokubwayo. The scientist requested the help of half a dozen veteran outbreak responders, writing in all-caps in the email’s subject line: “WE NEED SUPPORT.”

WHO official Stella Chungong said she was very worried, warning in an email that terrified health workers might abandon Donka Hospital and — equally alarming — new Ebola cases were coming out of nowhere.

“We need a drastic … change (of) course if we hope to control this outbreak,” she said.

WHO dispatched a top Ebola expert, Pierre Formenty, to the region. But many of the other managers sent to Conakry “had no idea how to manage an Ebola epidemic,” according to Marc Poncin, who was mission chief in Guinea for Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF.

In public, WHO downplayed concerns. Spokesman Gregory Hartl told reporters in early April that “this outbreak isn’t different from previous outbreaks.” In a Twitter message sent by Hartl — and preserved by Britain’s ITV News — he is shown asking: “You want to disrupt the economic life of a country, a region (because) of 130 suspect and confirmed cases?”

The news kept getting worse throughout April. Formenty said teams in Conakry had seen patients pop up all over the city with no known link to other cases.

“This means there is one part of the epidemic that is hidden,” he wrote later in an internal trip report. “The Ebola outbreak could restart at any time.”

——

FILE In this file photo taken on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, Healthcare workers load a man, center, onto a ambulance as he is suspected of suffering from the Ebola virus in Kenema, Sierra Leone. A top U.N. official in the fight against Ebola greeted just three patients at one treatment center he visited this week in Sierra Leone. Families in Liberia are no longer required to cremate the remains of loved ones in a bid to halt the spread of the virulent disease. [AP Photo/Tanya Bindra, File]

‘OVERWHELMED WITH OUTBREAKS’

As the epidemic spread, WHO struggled with competing crises.

In some ways the World Health Organization is small — its roughly 7,000 employees make it less than half the size of the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control — but its responsibilities are wide-ranging. Among other things, it monitors some 800 outbreaks every year. Most don’t make international headlines.

By mid-2014, several had.

The first was polio, which came back from the brink of extinction to claw its way into conflict zones such as Syria. Its rise was labeled an international health emergency in May. The second was the baffling Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, which had sickened nearly 700 people and killed 204, mostly in the Arabian peninsula, by early June.

It was around that time that West Africa’s Ebola epidemic surpassed the previous largest outbreak, in Uganda, where it infected 425 people in 2000 and killed about half.

The triple threat came at a time of steeply reduced budgets for WHO following the 2008 financial crisis. Cuts have continued since; its outbreak department shrank by about 20 per cent in 2013.

At a June 2 meeting in Geneva, scientist Stephane Hugonnet warned that the agency was “overwhelmed with outbreaks.”

In Africa, the true reach of Ebola was being obscured by Guinea’s Ministry of Health, which only shared information on confirmed cases and deaths, according to WHO documents. That was a problem because refusing to report suspect and probable cases meant the world wasn’t getting an accurate picture of the epidemic.

One alleged motivation was mining. Guinea has the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, for example, and the mineral is its main source of foreign currency. Guinean officials’ insistence on only reporting confirmed cases was intended to “minimize artificially the magnitude of the Ebola outbreak to reassure expatriates working in the mining industry,” Formenty, the WHO Ebola expert, wrote in another trip report.

Another issue was the hajj in October. If Saudi Arabia further restricted travel in the wake of the outbreak, that could become a political liability for Guinea, an overwhelmingly Muslim country.

Guinean government spokesman Albert Damantang Camara said Thursday that officials in Conakry never tried to hide the scope of the outbreak, but WHO official Briand said the dispute spilled out publicly when the Guinean government criticized WHO for publishing conflicting figures.

“They were not happy,” she said. In a memo sent to Chan days later, WHO officials noted the Guinean authorities interpreted the discrepancy between WHO and Guinean figures “as a threat to their credibility.”

Meanwhile, WHO employees wondered whether headquarters should be doing more. On June 4, scientist Lucien Manga wrote to Briand to tell her senior staff in Africa had proposed declaring the Ebola outbreak a global emergency.

“What do you think and what is your advice?” Manga asked in an email.

In a response tapped out over her iPhone the following day, Briand argued against the idea, saying it wouldn’t help control the epidemic and might harm the countries involved.

“It may be more effective to use other diplomatic means for now.”

On June 10, Briand, her boss Dr. Keiji Fukuda and others sent a memo to WHO chief Chan, noting that cases might soon pop up in Mali, Ivory Coast and Guinea Bissau. But it went on to say that declaring an international emergency or even convening an emergency committee to discuss the issue “could be seen as a hostile act.”

Declaring an international emergency is no guarantee of ending an outbreak but it functions as a kind of a global distress call.

“It’s important because it gives a clear signal that nobody can ignore the epidemic anymore,” said Dr. Joanne Liu, MSF’s international president.

In a meeting at WHO headquarters on July 30, Liu said she told Chan, “You have the legitimacy and the authority to label it an emergency…You need to step up to the plate.”

After WHO declared the international emergency. U.S. President Barack Obama ordered up to 3,000 troops to West Africa and promised to build more than a dozen 100-bed field hospitals. Britain and France also pledged to build Ebola clinics; China sent a 59-person lab team and Cuba sent more than 400 health workers.

——

FILE – In this Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 file photo, Assistant Director-General of Health Security for the World Health Organization (WHO) Keiji Fukuda attends a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland. In a delay that some say may have cost lives, the World Health Organization resisted calling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency until the summer of 2014, two months after staff raised the possibility and long after a senior manager called for a drastic change in strategy, The Associated Press has learned. [AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi, File]

‘A DOCTOR WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER’

WHO and MSF often work in tandem but are sometimes at odds over everything from epidemic response to vaccination drives. The tensions that flared over Ebola highlighted some of the U.N. agency’s weaknesses — including a failure to lead.

WHO did send reinforcements, including doctors, lab experts and logisticians — an “unprecedented” deployment, Chan said in September. Many were praised by fellow responders, but, in the initial stages at least, there were problems with consistency.

“It’s not that we don’t have competent people in Africa,” said Oyewale Tomori, a former WHO staffer who now serves on the agency’s Ebola Emergency Committee. “It’s that they never get to a position where they can act.”

He said one problem was a tendency within WHO to reward those who deferred to local authorities.

That’s an issue that came up in Guinea, where the Doctors Without Borders chief there, Poncin, complained that WHO officials kept contradicting his group’s warnings, something he said pleased a government that “didn’t want to frighten investors.”

There were personnel issues elsewhere.

In Liberia, MSF’s Lindis Hurum said she sent a letter complaining about a WHO consultant who was proposing “completely unrealistic” treatments.

In mid-August, a Senegalese scientist working for WHO caught Ebola while working in Sierra Leone. At the time, staff with MSF, WHO and other aid organizations were all staying at the Luawa Resort Hotel in Kailahun, a safari lodge of bungalows with shared kitchens and public spaces.

But instead of checking into a treatment centre — the very clinics where health workers were desperately trying to persuade people with Ebola to seek help — he confined himself to his hotel room, and arranged for his own tests outside the clinic, according to MSF emergency co-ordinator Ewald Stals, who was there at the time.

“We were pretty shocked that he was still at the hotel,” Stals said. “You would expect more mature and responsible behaviour from a doctor who should know better.”

Stals said two other suspect cases in the hotel appeared within hours: A cleaning lady and a handyman. Though both tested negative, Stals said the incidents were enough to spook many of the MSF staffers; 14 of the 22 deployed there left Kailahun.

“We really struggled to keep the (Ebola clinic) open,” Stals said. “It meant we had to run the treatment centre with eight people instead of 22.”

The Ebola-infected WHO scientist, who later recovered, could not be reached for comment.

The experience soured MSF on sharing lodgings. Others at the hotel, including the CDC and a mobile lab from Canada, also left. But WHO refused to vacate the hotel until a phone call between the two agencies’ top leaders resolved the stand-off.

During the call, Chan asked Liu if MSF could curb its public criticisms of the U.N. agency.

“I said, ‘I’m giving you a huge favour by not bringing up this story,” Liu said.

——

In this Tuesday, March 10, 2015 photo, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan listens during a question-and-answer session at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in London. In a delay that some say may have cost lives, the World Health Organization resisted calling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency until the summer of 2014, two months after staff raised the possibility and long after a senior manager called for a drastic change in strategy, The Associated Press has learned. [AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi, File]

“A SINKING SHIP”

The World Health Organization has pledged to reform itself, but past experience suggests that’s unlikely.

Reform proposals have been kicking around since the mid-1990s at least. In the wake of the 2009 swine flu pandemic, a major review suggested, among other things, a $100 million crisis fund and an emergency health workforce. The ideas came to naught but have been revived following the Ebola crisis.

“It’s very much reshuffling the deck chairs on a sinking ship,” said Kelley Lee, an academic and author of a book on WHO.

Infectious diseases expert Osterholm said the global health agency isn’t the only one to be blamed and that the entire world failed to respond quickly enough to stop Ebola from becoming a humanitarian disaster.

“The global health response system is broken,” he said. The WHO member countries don’t seem willing to overhaul the agency, leaving the world dangerously unprepared to deal with future health crises.

“What happens if MERS blows up or there’s an Ebola-like event in East Africa?” he asked. “I’m not sure WHO has a plan for that.”

——

Cheng also reported from London. Satter also reported from London and Brussels. Boubacar Diallo in Conakry, Guinea contributed to this report.

]]>http://o.canada.com/health/who-resisted-declaring-ebola-emergency-on-economic-political-grounds/feed1WHO-Bungling-Ebola.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaFILE - In this Monday, May 19, 2014 file photo, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Margaret Chan sits before the opening of the 67th World Health Assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. In a delay that some say may have cost lives, the World Health Organization resisted calling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency until the summer of 2014, two months after staff raised the possibility and long after a senior manager called for a drastic change in strategy, The Associated Press has learned.FILE In this file photo taken on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, Healthcare workers load a man, center, onto a ambulance as he is suspected of suffering from the Ebola virus in Kenema, Sierra Leone. A top U.N. official in the fight against Ebola greeted just three patients at one treatment center he visited this week in Sierra Leone. Families in Liberia are no longer required to cremate the remains of loved ones in a bid to halt the spread of the virulent disease. FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 file photo, Assistant Director-General of Health Security for the World Health Organization (WHO) Keiji Fukuda attends a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland. In a delay that some say may have cost lives, the World Health Organization resisted calling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency until the summer of 2014, two months after staff raised the possibility and long after a senior manager called for a drastic change in strategy, The Associated Press has learned.In this Tuesday, March 10, 2015 photo, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan listens during a question-and-answer session at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in London. In a delay that some say may have cost lives, the World Health Organization resisted calling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency until the summer of 2014, two months after staff raised the possibility and long after a senior manager called for a drastic change in strategy, The Associated Press has learned.US Sen. Schumer: ban sale of green laser pointers used to disorient pilotshttp://o.canada.com/travel/us-sen-schumer-ban-sale-of-green-laser-pointers-used-to-disorient-pilots
http://o.canada.com/travel/us-sen-schumer-ban-sale-of-green-laser-pointers-used-to-disorient-pilots#commentsMon, 16 Mar 2015 13:36:42 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=597903&preview_id=597903]]>THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALBANY, N.Y. — U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is calling for a federal ban on the sale of high-powered green laser pointers that have been used to injure and disorient airplane pilots around the country.

The New York Democrat said Sunday that he wants federal regulators to stop the sale of the devices, which were linked to 17 incidents at JFK airport and another 37 at LaGuardia last year. A man was arrested last week for allegedly pointing a laser at two aircraft at LaGuardia.

The green laser pointers are apparently preferred by pranksters because the green light travels farther. They also are more likely to injure a pilot’s eyes.

Schumer says the laser pointers can jeopardize an entire plane if they disorient a pilot during a take-off or landing.

The International Cycling Union now backs key report recommendations, including night-time access to riders for collecting doping control samples and “more robust” re-testing of their stored samples.

The UCI responded days after the Cycling Independent Reform Commission produced a 227-page document detailing how collusion and failures by its previous leaders allowed Lance Armstrong to cheat and dominate the sport.

“As I predicted, the CIRC report made for uncomfortable reading but it is imperative that we do not shy away from tough decisions,” UCI president Brian Cookson said in a statement.

The governing body will ask more of its independent anti-doping unit (CADF) and will urge it to recruit an intelligence manager to work with customs and law enforcement agencies.

The UCI wants a fit-and-proper test for team directors and doctors, faster prosecutions of biological passport cases and a re-launched whistleblower hotline.

Doping problems persist in top-level cycling today as Cookson acknowledged Monday when the UCI published the work of a CIRC panel it appointed.

The CIRC reported witness testimony that 90 per cent of road cycling riders use doping and 90 per cent of exemptions for using therapeutic medications were to enhance performance.

“I am absolutely determined to use the CIRC’s report to ensure that cycling continues the process of fully regaining the trust of fans, broadcasters and all the riders who compete clean,” Cookson said.

The governing body has created a task force to “ensure the recommendations are properly followed up,” he said.

Closer co-operation with the World Anti-Doping Agency and national anti-doping bodies are central to the UCI’s aims.

The CIRC report criticized past UCI presidents Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid — who combined to lead the governing body from 1991 to 2013 — for fighting power struggles with stakeholders and protecting Armstrong instead of tackling doping more seriously.

Cookson picked up on another CIRC criticism, that UCI election campaigns were unsatisfactory and gave riders no say in voting by member federations.

“I strongly believe we should implement a more representative electoral system,” said the UCI leader, who ousted McQuaid in an election 18 months ago.

TORONTO — Ontario is now measles free, the health minister said Thursday, as a new report raised questions about how immunization rates are tracked in the province.

The incubation period for measles is between seven and 21 days, so with the last case being reported Feb. 20, the outbreak appears to be over, Eric Hoskins said Thursday.

“We are now — knock on wood — we are measles free in the province,” he said.

There were fewer than 20 cases in Ontario — in the Toronto and Niagara regions — compared to 119 cases in Quebec. Measles is highly contagious and causes fever, a distinctive red rash and a runny nose.

A report on vaccination policy from the C. D. Howe Institute, released Thursday, became the third recently released report to express concerns about how vaccinations are tracked in the province.

Ontario and a few other provinces are using a system called Panorama to track childhood immunization, but the auditor general and C. D. Howe expressed concern that it won’t be fully effective unless immunization is tracked across all Ontarians’ lifespans.

The $160-million Panorama system — a cost the auditor general notes ballooned from $85 million — started rolling out in Ontario in August 2013 and is now in use at all but one of the public health units.

But the lack of automatic enrolment in the system at birth means it’s hard to encourage vaccination early in life, “potentially leaving infants vulnerable,” the C. D. Howe report concluded.

“Although Ontario’s vaccination schedule for newborns begins at two months, and many parents begin to vaccinate their children at that time, data are not officially recorded until a child enters school,” the report said.

In Ontario children enrolling in primary or secondary school must be immunized against specific diseases unless their parents obtain exemptions for medical, religious or “conscience” reasons.

The auditor general found last year that Ontario lacks information on immunization rates in licensed daycares because public health units often don’t report the information to the health ministry and the ministry doesn’t request it. And there is no process to ensure vaccination of adult immigrants, Bonnie Lysyk said.

Boxes of the measles, mumps and rubella virus vaccine (MMR) and measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine inside a freezer at a doctor’s office in Northridge, Calif. [AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes]

“Panorama will not provide the data needed to identify areas of the province with low immunization-coverage rates, which could help prevent future outbreaks and identify vulnerable people during an outbreak,” Lysyk found.

But Hoskins said Panorama was helpful during the recent measles outbreak in determining the vaccination status of people who reported measles-like symptoms. The province expects public health units to report daycare immunization rates, he said.

“So I think we’ve got a very comprehensive surveillance program and reporting program through our public health units,” Hoskins said.

A panel of medical experts that reviewed the immunization system last year also concluded that Ontario is missing opportunities to monitor and potentially intervene to promote vaccination in the first few years of life.

A “truly comprehensive” immunization registry would accurately track all vaccines administered to all Ontarians throughout their lives, with linkages to electronic medical records, said the review.

“The public and their providers should have electronic access to their own immunization records and immunization reminders to help them follow the recommended immunization schedule,” it concluded.

]]>http://o.canada.com/health/ontario-is-measles-free-health-minister-eric-hoskins-says/feed0measles_vaccine2002thecanadianpressEric Hoskins at Queens Park in Toronto on June 24, 2014.Boxes of the measles, mumps and rubella virus vaccine (MMR) and measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine inside a freezer at a doctor's office in Northridge, Calif. Kurt Busch cleared for return to competition, receives waiver from NASCAR to qualify for Chasehttp://o.canada.com/sports/kurt-busch-cleared-for-return-to-competition-receives-waiver-from-nascar-to-qualify-for-chase
http://o.canada.com/sports/kurt-busch-cleared-for-return-to-competition-receives-waiver-from-nascar-to-qualify-for-chase#commentsWed, 11 Mar 2015 16:47:04 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=597109&preview_id=597109]]>CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kurt Busch was cleared Wednesday to get back in his race car and attempt to rebuild a career that was halted two days before the Daytona 500 when NASCAR suspended him for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

“It’s been torture sitting out of the car,” Busch said in a conference call. He called the allegations against him “a complete fabrication.”

“I never did anything of the things I was accused of,” he added. “I never wavered in this whole process because of the confidence in the truth.”

Busch missed the season’s first three races during the suspension, the third of his career. In reinstating the 2004 champion, NASCAR ruled he will be eligible for the title-deciding Chase should he qualify. He will return to competition this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway in the No. 41 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing.

He said he will replace his longtime nickname “The Outlaw” with his signature above the door of his car.

Busch remains on indefinite probation.

“We have made it very clear to Kurt Busch our expectations for him moving forward, which includes participation in a treatment program and full compliance with all judicial requirements as a result of his off-track behaviour,” NASCAR executive vice-president Steve O’Donnell said.

Busch was suspended Feb. 20 when a Delaware judge ruled he likely assaulted ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll in his motorhome in September at Dover International Speedway. He lost two rounds of appeals on the eve of the season-opening Daytona 500.

Last week, the Delaware attorney general declined to charge Busch for the incident with Driscoll — a move O’Donnell said “removed a significant impediment” to reinstatement.

Busch said he had been led to believe that criminal charges would be the determining factor in NASCAR taking action, and was surprised when he was suspended before the attorney general made its decision.

“The way that NASCAR reacted, it was different than what we had been told,” Busch said. “They were more focused on the criminal side, as were we. But the commissioner’s ruling was not necessarily what was the important factor here. The important factor is that what I was accused of was a complete fabrication.”

Busch has also complied with NASCAR’s reinstatement requirements, the terms of which have not been disclosed. O’Donnell said a health care expert recommended Busch’s immediate return.

Driscoll questioned NASCAR’s decision to make Busch championship-eligible this season.

“I’m deeply concerned about the message NASCAR is sending by letting him compete for the championship after he was found by a judge to have committed an act of domestic violence,” Driscoll said in a statement. “But I am gratified, at least, that NASCAR’s decision comes with the mandatory condition that he follow through on the treatment he so clearly needs.”

Busch did not reveal what he did to satisfy NASCAR, but indicated he wished he had participated in such a program earlier in his career. He also said he had been encouraged by NASCAR chairman Brian France, who urged him not to change as a driver.

“It’s a road map that they laid out that I am respecting, and it’s created such a good foundation to utilize that I wish I had done it sooner,” Busch said. “Talking with Brian France and going through this road, he told me, ‘Don’t change. Don’t be the person that is different in the car. Be a person that’s different outside the car.’

“So Brian said, ‘Go be yourself in that car, that’s what we really love. We love Kurt Busch behind the wheel.’ That’s my focus, to be humble throughout this whole process and let actions speak louder than words.”

Busch’s return was also cleared by Chevrolet, which had suspended its relationship with Busch. SHR is a Chevrolet team.

The new Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format introduced last season gives drivers an automatic berth into the 16-driver field with a victory during the regular season. But, a driver must be ranked inside the top 30 in points to use that automatic berth.

Busch currently has no points in the No. 41 Chevrolet, a car Haas pays for out of pocket specifically for Busch.

It was Haas who gave Busch the opportunity to resurrect his career as one of the most talented drivers in NASCAR. The 36-year-old has a history of blowups on and off the track that date back to his rookie season. He was suspended in 2012 by NASCAR for threatening a reporter, and parked for the final two races of the 2005 season by Roush-Fenway Racing after he was pulled over by police in Arizona.

Haas, wanting a driver who could take his machine tool manufacturing company to victory lane, offered Busch a ride in a new fourth car at SHR when Busch found himself driving for low-budget teams. Busch was fired at the end of 2011 by Roger Penske for a series of on- and off-track incidents, and he spent two seasons driving for low-budget teams before Haas extended the olive branch.

Busch has 25 career wins, but only one since 2011. It came last year, his first season with SHR, and qualified him for the Chase. Driscoll alleged the assault occurred two days before the third Chase race, when Busch was in danger of being eliminated from the field. He was indeed knocked out of the Chase that weekend.

Busch still must comply with guidelines set by Family Court Commissioner David Jones, who granted the no-contact order for Driscoll that led to his Feb. 20 suspension, two days before the season-opening race at Daytona. Jones wrote in his opinion that he believed Busch could lash out again and has a propensity to lose control in response to disappointing or frustrating situations involving racing.

Jones ordered Busch to be evaluated to see if there is a “treatable mental health condition.” He also said Busch must follow any suggested treatment plans. Busch is appealing Jones’ ruling.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/kurt-busch-cleared-for-return-to-competition-receives-waiver-from-nascar-to-qualify-for-chase/feed0NASCAR-Busch-Investigation-Auto-Racing.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaPhotos March 10: Top images from around the worldhttp://o.canada.com/technology/photos-march-10-top-images-from-around-the-world
http://o.canada.com/technology/photos-march-10-top-images-from-around-the-world#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 15:41:30 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=596829]]>The day’s best photos, as selected by editors at Postmedia News, are a stunning collection of the greatest images from around the world.

A Tibetan exile shouts anti-China slogans after being detained by Indian police during a protest outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. Scores of Tibetan protesters March 10 shouted independence slogans and waved anti-China banners in New Delhi to commemorate the anniversary of the 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. In Nepal, which is also home to thousands of Tibetan exiles, activists sang songs and made offerings to a portrait of the Dalai Lama as part of the commemorations. MONEY SHARMA/AFP/Getty Images

A police officer beats a student protester in Letpadan, 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar. Hundreds of police were charging student protesters with batons, kicking and beating them as they dragged them into trucks, ending a days-long standoff in the Myanmar town of Letpadan. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Myanmar student protesters (L) clash with riot police during a march in Letpadan town, some 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Myanmar’s main city. Phyo Hein Kyaw/AFP/Getty Images

Student protesters run as police officers charge during a crackdown in Letpadan, 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

A Palestinian child sleeps as she waits with her family for permission to enter Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip. Egypt is due to reopen its Rafah border crossing with Gaza for two days, for the fourth time since it was closed after a suicide bombing in the Sinai Peninsula in October 2014. SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images

Supporters of Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the son of Yemeni former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, hold their weapons as they chant slogans during a demonstration demanding presidential elections be held and the younger Saleh run for the office, in Sanaa, Yemen. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

The solar-powered plane Solar Impulse 2 takes off from Muscat airport in Oman, as it heads to Ahmedabad in India on the second leg of its epic bid to become the first plane to fly around the world powered solely by the sun. MOHAMMED MAHJOUB/AFP/Getty Images

Immigrants protest in front of the main office of the Protection system for refugees and asylum seekers (SPRAR) in Rome. ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images

A masked Palestinian protester hurls away a tear gas canister fired by Israeli severity forces during clashes following a demonstration by students from Birzeit University near Ramallah against the incarceration in Israeli jails of Palestinian university students, in the West Bank village of Betunia, outside the Israeli-run Ofer prison. ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images

People look at a scale model of Istambul at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, southeastern France, during the MIPIM, an international real estate show for professionals. VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images

President Barack Obama laughs with Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Adm. James Winnefeld, left, and 89th Airlift Wing Vice Commander Preston Williamson, as he walks from Marine One to board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

]]>http://o.canada.com/technology/photos-march-10-top-images-from-around-the-world/feed0INDIA-NEPAL-CHINA-TIBET-PROTEST-POLITICSpostmedianews1A Tibetan exile shouts anti-China slogans after being detained by Indian police during a protest outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. Scores of Tibetan protesters March 10 shouted independence slogans and waved anti-China banners in New Delhi to commemorate the anniversary of the 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. In Nepal, which is also home to thousands of Tibetan exiles, activists sang songs and made offerings to a portrait of the Dalai Lama as part of the commemorations. MONEY SHARMA/AFP/Getty ImagesA police officer beats a student protester in Letpadan, 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar. Hundreds of police were charging student protesters with batons, kicking and beating them as they dragged them into trucks, ending a days-long standoff in the Myanmar town of Letpadan. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)Myanmar student protesters (L) clash with riot police during a march in Letpadan town, some 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Myanmar's main city. Phyo Hein Kyaw/AFP/Getty ImagesStudent protesters run as police officers charge during a crackdown in Letpadan, 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)A street vendor hawks his wares outside shuttered shops in central Athens. Greece agreed to start urgent technical talks on extending its crucial bailout after its eurozone partners accused debt-stricken Athens of wasting time in previous negotiations. LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty ImagesA Palestinian child sleeps as she waits with her family for permission to enter Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip. Egypt is due to reopen its Rafah border crossing with Gaza for two days, for the fourth time since it was closed after a suicide bombing in the Sinai Peninsula in October 2014. SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty ImagesSupporters of Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the son of Yemeni former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, hold their weapons as they chant slogans during a demonstration demanding presidential elections be held and the younger Saleh run for the office, in Sanaa, Yemen. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)The solar-powered plane Solar Impulse 2 takes off from Muscat airport in Oman, as it heads to Ahmedabad in India on the second leg of its epic bid to become the first plane to fly around the world powered solely by the sun. MOHAMMED MAHJOUB/AFP/Getty ImagesImmigrants protest in front of the main office of the Protection system for refugees and asylum seekers (SPRAR) in Rome. ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty ImagesA masked Palestinian protester hurls away a tear gas canister fired by Israeli severity forces during clashes following a demonstration by students from Birzeit University near Ramallah against the incarceration in Israeli jails of Palestinian university students, in the West Bank village of Betunia, outside the Israeli-run Ofer prison. ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople look at a scale model of Istambul at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, southeastern France, during the MIPIM, an international real estate show for professionals. VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty ImagesPresident Barack Obama laughs with Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Adm. James Winnefeld, left, and 89th Airlift Wing Vice Commander Preston Williamson, as he walks from Marine One to board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)European Council President Donald Tusk (3rd R) visits the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty ImagesMiami Beach marks centennial with 100 hours of free events, celebrity-studded concerthttp://o.canada.com/travel/miami-beach-marks-centennial-with-100-hours-of-free-events-celebrity-studded-concert
http://o.canada.com/travel/miami-beach-marks-centennial-with-100-hours-of-free-events-celebrity-studded-concert#commentsMon, 09 Mar 2015 15:01:52 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=596590&preview_id=596590]]>By Jennifer Kay

MIAMI — To stage a centennial celebration, officials here sought local talent to highlight their commitment to creativity and sense of community.

Since this is Miami Beach, that local talent includes international music stars Barry Gibb and Andrea Bocelli.

Both singers said they arrived here like a lot of tourists, seeking sunshine in the middle of winter.

“Coming from New York, where it was so cold, very cold, I arrived here and it was a beautiful sun, and I said, ‘OK, I buy a house here,”‘ said Bocelli at a rooftop event last month announcing their participation in the 100-hour celebration event that starts March 22.

——

MIAMI BEACH HISTORY

The city was officially incorporated March 26, 1915. A 1920s land boom spurred Miami Beach to grow, particularly a string of small hotels along Ocean Drive.

Those hotels were commandeered during World War II for Army Air Corps training, but the Rat Pack and Jackie Gleason joined tourists who returned to Miami Beach in the 1950s and 1960s. While “Miami Vice” was filmed here in the 1980s, the city was in decline until a 1990s rebirth of South Beach’s club scene and Art Deco district.

A photography exhibition exploring the city’s development from mangrove swamps to an international community is on display at Miami Beach City Hall through May 29.

South Beach may have a reputation for a year-round spring-break atmosphere, but Gibb said he stayed here because of the family-friendly atmosphere.

He arrived in Miami Beach in the mid-1970s hoping to make a comeback album, and he and his wife found a home where they would raise five children and seven grandchildren. His beach tip: a new “bark beach” at the city’s north end where dogs can share the sand with their humans.

“This is the greatest place on earth to raise a family. It’s steadfast, it’s a stable society,” said Gibb.

FILE – This Nov. 16, 2014 file photo shows a man on a rental Citi Bike riding past an example of Art Deco architecture in Miami Beach. The city was officially incorporated on March 26, 1915, and its centennial will be marked with events that will include a wedding for 100 couples on the beach. [AP Photo/Jennifer Kay]

——

100-HOUR SHINDIG

The centennial celebration highlights the things that make Miami Beach so appealing: fashion, flashy cars, fitness, diversity and celebrities.

Starting March 22, a series of free events on the sands of South Beach will include fitness demonstrations, car and fashion shows, a daylong beach party, a wedding for 100 couples and a naturalization ceremony for 100 new U.S. citizens.

Gibb and Bocelli will be joined by Gloria Estefan, Wyclef Jean, Flo Rida and other artists for a March 26 concert on the beach to close out the festivities. Tickets for premium reserved seating range from $55 to $525.

——

ENVIRONMENT

Like a lot of aging beauties, Miami Beach has had some work done to keep up appearances. Diligent preservation has kept the city’s Art Deco buildings looking bright amid more recent construction booms.

City officials also are using the centennial celebration to highlight efforts to preserve the city for the future. Miami Beach is spending hundreds of millions over the next several years to install storm water pumps to keep rising sea levels from swamping low-lying streets.

The city last year extended a ban on Styrofoam and other plastic foam products on its beaches to all city parks, events, buildings and sidewalk cafes to keep pollutants out of its waterways.

“We’re also going to celebrate our future by bringing people’s awareness to climate change and sea level rise. It’s not just about our past hundred years,” said Mayor Philip Levine.

——

FILE – In this Jan. 6, 2015 file photo, beachgoers frolic in the waves off South Beach in Miami Beach, Fla. The city was officially incorporated on March 26, 1915, and its centennial will be marked with events that will include a wedding for 100 couples on the beach. [AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File]

]]>http://o.canada.com/travel/miami-beach-marks-centennial-with-100-hours-of-free-events-celebrity-studded-concert/feed0Miami-Beach-Centennial.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaFILE - This Nov. 16, 2014 file photo shows a man on a rental Citi Bike riding past an example of Art Deco architecture in Miami Beach. The city was officially incorporated on March 26, 1915, and its centennial will be marked with events that will include a wedding for 100 couples on the beach.FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2015 file photo, beachgoers frolic in the waves off South Beach in Miami Beach, Fla. The city was officially incorporated on March 26, 1915, and its centennial will be marked with events that will include a wedding for 100 couples on the beach.Professors, former U.S. general line up to support Omar Khadr’s bail applicationhttp://o.canada.com/news/professors-former-u-s-general-line-up-to-support-omar-khadrs-bail-application
http://o.canada.com/news/professors-former-u-s-general-line-up-to-support-omar-khadrs-bail-application#commentsMon, 09 Mar 2015 14:23:52 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=596537&preview_id=596537]]>TORONTO — Professors, doctors, businessmen and even a former senior member of the U.S. military have put their names — and reputations — on the line to support the bail application of Omar Khadr, a man the Canadian government and other detractors have branded a dangerous jihadi terrorist.

Foremost among those backing Khadr are his long-time lawyer Dennis Edney and his wife Patricia, who have offered to take him into their home if he wins bail.

“I just think he’s an extraordinary young man,” Patricia Edney, a manager with Alberta Health Services, said in an interview from Edmonton.

“We see him as more than a client: We see him as somebody who’s been abandoned by his government and suffered greatly for it.”

Edney, who has met the Toronto-born Khadr in prison, says she finds him gentle, articulate and gracious.

Khadr’s application for bail — to be heard over two days later this month by Court of Queen’s Bench — aims to get him out of Bowden Institution in Innisfail, Alta., while he appeals his conviction on five war-crimes charges by a U.S. military commission for incidents that occurred in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old.

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to murder in violation of the law of war in the death of an American special forces soldier, attempted murder, conspiracy, spying and providing material support to terrorism as part of a deal to be repatriated to Canada from Guantanamo Bay.

Despite the backing of numerous legal experts and even rulings from U.S. courts, the commission appeal court has so far put his case on hold, raising the possibility that Khadr, 28, won’t get a hearing before his eight-year sentence runs out — in October 2018.

In their letters for bail court, Arlette Zinck and her businessman husband Rob Betty make clear their positive assessment of Khadr.

“I am proud to count him among my closest friends,” says Betty, who has had “dozens of rich visits” with Khadr since his return to Canada in Sept. 2012.

Zinck, an English professor at King’s University, has been one of Khadr’s tutors for years. He’s a diligent and capable “model student” who will need to “acclimate to life beyond bars,” she says.

Layne Morris, a former U.S. special forces sergeant blinded in the 2002 battle in which Khadr was captured, called Zinck a “groupie” who is part of a clique involving celebrities, the media and liberal politicians who see Khadr as the latest cause celebre.

“They have no knowledge whatsoever — they say, ‘Oh, well, he was 15 at the time, he should be given another chance’,” Morris said in an interview from Utah.

“I don’t think he should have another chance at this point because he’s still a huge security risk to Western society and he’s a risk to Canadian society.”

Still, no one who has worked closely with Khadr over the past several years — including Dr. Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist and retired brigadier-general with the U.S. Army who spent hundreds of hours evaluating him — believes he poses any kind of risk.

Khadr’s own affidavit brings into sharp relief the massive life-skills deficit he will have to overcome upon any release. He will need support, he writes, with such basic tasks as banking, shopping for groceries, using a public library, riding a bus, learning to drive, renting accommodation, finding work, or filing a tax return.

While keen to find volunteer or paid work, Khadr says he will initially have enough on his plate learning to navigate a world he barely knows — a world that includes door knobs and smart phones.

He will also have to get used to his home country after living with his family before his arrest mainly in Pakistan and in Taliban-controlled eastern Afghanistan. His father was an associate of Osama bin Laden and the family stayed for a time at the terror mastermind’s compound.

At his trial in October 2010, Khadr said he hoped one day to become a doctor. For now, however, his educational aspirations are more modest: Complete high school equivalency and, on release, study for a Bachelor of Arts at King’s University.

His U.S. appeal argues the widely maligned military commission at Guantanamo Bay had no jurisdiction to accept his guilty plea in exchange for a further eight years behind bars because he was tried for an action that was not a war crime under either American or international law. He later said he only pleaded guilty to get out of the notorious U.S. military prison.

The federal government has yet to file its response to the bail application but has consistently said it will fight any effort to lessen his punishment.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/professors-former-u-s-general-line-up-to-support-omar-khadrs-bail-application/feed0Omar Khadr.thecanadianpressOmar KhadrOmar Khadr: A chronology of the legal odysseyhttp://o.canada.com/news/omar-khadr-a-chronology-of-the-legal-odyssey
http://o.canada.com/news/omar-khadr-a-chronology-of-the-legal-odyssey#commentsMon, 09 Mar 2015 14:18:47 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=596539&preview_id=596539]]>A look at the long legal odyssey of Canadian born Omar Khadr:

1986: Omar Khadr is born in Toronto on Sept. 19, but lives with family in Pakistan until 1995.

1995: Khadr’s father is arrested in connection with the bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, but is freed after then-prime minister Jean Chretien raises the arrest with Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

1996: After briefly returning to Canada, the family moves to Jalalabad in Taliban-controlled eastern Afghanistan, where they live in Osama bin Laden’s compound.

July 27, 2002: Two Afghan government soldiers are killed and several U.S. troops sustain injuries as coalition forces move in on Khadr’s compound. Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade that kills U.S. Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer. Khadr is badly wounded.

October 2002: Khadr is transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

Nov. 7, 2005: The U.S. military charges Khadr with conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy in connection with the deadly 2002 skirmish that killed Speer.

March 17, 2008: Khadr alleges that he was threatened with rape and violence by interrogators seeking to extract a confession.

Aug. 9, 2010: Khadr officially pleads not guilty to five war crimes charges, including murder, at a pre-trial hearing. Judge Col. Patrick Parrish rules Khadr’s confessions will be admissible as evidence.

Oct. 25, 2010: Amid talk of an agreement, Khadr changes his plea to guilty on all five counts; gets opportunity to apply for a transfer to a Canadian prison after one year in a U.S. facility.

Oct. 31, 2010: Jurors sentence Khadr to 40 years in prison for war crimes but a pre-trial deal limits the actual sentence to eight years.

April 2012: U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta signs off on Khadr’s transfer.

Sept. 29, 2012: A U.S. military airplane brings Khadr back to Canada. He is transferred to the Millhaven Institution near Kingston.

April 28, 2013: Khadr’s lawyer announces he plans to appeal the terrorism convictions.

May 28, 2013: Khadr is transferred to the maximum security Edmonton Institution.

Feb. 11, 2014: Khadr’s lawyer confirms his client has been transferred out of the federal maximum security prison in Edmonton to Bowden Institution, a medium-security prison near the town of Innisfail.

May 22, 2014: Speer’s widow and an American soldier blinded by the grenade sue Khadr for close to $45 million.

March 24, 2015: Hearing scheduled in Khadr’s application for bail pending the outcome of his appeal in the U.S. of his conviction for war crimes.

In a statement Thursday, the union said the anonymous leaks about Hamilton’s situation “are cowardly, undermine the integrity of our collectively bargained agreements and in some instances have been wholly inaccurate.”

The union also spoke out in Hamilton’s defence, saying it will “use every right we have under the collective bargaining agreement to make sure Josh gets the help he needs, and the fair and confidential process to which he is entitled.”

Many media outlets have reported that Hamilton, whose substance abuse problems have been well-documented for years, had a recent relapse involving cocaine and alcohol.

The union said the information has been leaked by “people who want to see Josh Hamilton hurt personally and professionally.”

The Angels have confirmed Hamilton met with baseball officials in New York last week. They’re waiting to learn of any disciplinary ruling against Hamilton, who wasn’t planning to participate in spring training while recovering from recent surgery on his shoulder.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that an arbitrator will decide whether Hamilton should enter a substance-abuse rehab program after a four-member advisory board couldn’t decide Hamilton’s next step. That report appeared to anger the union, which issued its statement the next day.

Players can be paid their full salaries for their first 30 days in rehab and half of their salary during the second 30 days of a program. The Times also reported that baseball officials haven’t decided whether to classify Hamilton as a four-time violator of the sport’s drug policy, which could lead to a lengthy suspension.

Hamilton is entering the third season of a five-year, $125 million contract with the Angels. He has been a disappointment in Orange County, managing just 31 homers and 123 RBIs in two injury-affected seasons.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/mlb-players-union-vows-support-for-angels-of-josh-hamilton-says-info-leaks-are-cowardly/feed0Athletics Angels BaseballtheassociatedpresscanadaFederal and Ontario governments pay for study on how to ignite the Ring of Firehttp://o.canada.com/business/federal-and-ontario-governments-pay-for-study-on-how-to-ignite-the-ring-of-fire
http://o.canada.com/business/federal-and-ontario-governments-pay-for-study-on-how-to-ignite-the-ring-of-fire#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 14:52:20 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=594906&preview_id=594906]]>TORONTO — Some of Canada’s most remote and impoverished First Nations communities isolated within northern Ontario’s so called Ring of Fire region are getting funding to conduct a study on how to open the area to development.

However at least one critic suggested the study, which is to look at establishing a year-round transportation corridor in part to allow mining operations, would be redundant.

The study will be led by the Webequie First Nation in partnership with the First Nations of Eabametoong, Neskantaga and Nibinamik, with the federal and Ontario governments each contributing $393,814.

Various stakeholders have been discussing for years how to connect the region. It has been widely agreed that economic development of the Ring of Fire would be very limited without some way to connect it to the rest of the world.

“We’ve always struggled to connect with the mainstream society, and I think as we move forward we will eventually connect with the real world and then hopefully we see the benefits that we always strive for,” said Webequie First Nation Chief Cornelius Wabasse, adding that the remote community is only accessible by air in the summertime and by road in the winter months.

Nibinamik First Nations Chief Johnny Yellowhead said he was apprehensive of working with the provincial government at first but is pleased with the results.

“I was told when we started approaching Ontario — you’ll never get Ontario to listen to you,” he said. “But I’m glad they’re here, even the federal minister. We’re making progress as we go and I’m very grateful to see that.”

Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford and Ontario Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle made the announcement at a mining conference in Toronto on Sunday.

“What does that mean for this region?” Rickford said. “It means that communities will have the opportunity to work collaboratively to assess, plan and develop a shared transportation solution that will open the door for future development in northwestern Ontario.”

Rickford said the project will position the region to capitalize on projects such as the Ring of Fire, but its main goal is to open up the region and meet the immediate and long term needs of local communities in the region.

New Democrat MP Claude Gravelle questioned spending money on a study, saying the investment should be focused directly on infrastructure in the region, because a similar study has already been done.

“This is the same announcement that was made in 1999 by the then-Liberal government to have a study on the permanent roads. There was even maps produced after the study indicating where the roads were going to go,” he said.

“What we need right now is to get the work done. There’s already been a study so why not use that study? The roads are going to go in the same place, so let’s spend that $780,000 on infrastructure.”

The remote region to the west of James Bay holds one of the world’s richest chromite deposits, discovered in 2007, along with nickel, copper and platinum — deposits Rickford estimated at between $30 to $50 billion.

Yet the region lacks both an electrical grid and a transportation corridor and faces daunting public infrastructure costs estimated well in excess of $1 billion.

An all-season road would connect these communities with the rest of the country, year-round, enabling the building of hydro lines and possibly the eventual development of the chromite deposits and other minerals.

“We recognize that obviously energy is a big piece of it,” Michael Gravelle said. “If we are at the stage where we end up with an all season road obviously that opens up opportunities in terms of energy needs being met.”

Rickford would not give a specific timeline as to when the study would be completed but said of the energy deficit that the corridor “ought to reflect the potential for some of the other challenges in developing our vast region.”

HALIFAX — Canadian lobster exports to Asia are growing but one lobster fisherman says that hasn’t had much impact on Maritime shore prices.

Bernie Berry of the Coldwater Lobster Association said prices are not yet reflecting the increased Asian demand.

“We’re not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, it’s just we were expecting maybe a little bit more,” said Berry, whose organization represents fisherman in southwestern Nova Scotia.

Berry said prices in his area this year are about 10 cents higher on average than the year before. The bigger advantage of the Asian markets is that it is easier to unload catches, he said.

“Before the market in China really took off … we were landing so many lobsters some of the times things would get backlogged,” he said.

“But now I think there’s enough market, it’s big enough and still getting bigger, that it just absorbs what we can catch even though we’re at record levels.”

Exports of live Canadian lobsters to Asia have increased by more than 400 per cent over the past five years, Halifax Stanfield International Airport recently said in a news release.

The airport said during the holiday season last year, Korean Air Cargo made weekly flights to South Korea with each one carrying 40 to 50 tonnes of lobster, with the largest shipment recorded at 100 tonnes.

While China remains the biggest Asian market for Canada’s lobster, South Korea is becoming increasingly important, said Geoff Irvine of the Lobster Council of Canada.

Canadian exports of live lobster to South Korea doubled in value between 2011 and 2013, the federal government says.

On Jan. 1, the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement came into effect, which Irvine said should further increase Canada’s share of the Korean market.

“The key thing about South Korea is that the Americans have had a free trade agreement for several years and we haven’t,” said Irvine.

Irvine said the increased demand in Asia can be attributed in part to rising middle classes in the region.

The Lobster Council of Canada recently announced a branding plan for lobster exports, which Irvine said will include Asian markets as part of its focus.

The marketing plan depends on a proposed levy in which lobster fishermen, buyers and processors across the Maritimes would pay one cent per pound of lobster caught to cover the cost of promotional initiatives.

Nova Scotia Fisheries Minister Keith Colwell has said he hopes the levy can be in place by the fall. However, it has gotten resistance from some fishermen and buyers in the province.

Berry said while he understands the reluctance towards the levy, he believes marketing will be key to bringing up prices.

“As much as China’s expanded over the past four, five or six years, I think it could be so much bigger and I guess it’s how we get into that market and try to market our product that we’re going to get a better price.”

A Boston-area researcher who was part of a team that discovered a new species of wasp in Kenya has named the insect Thaumatodryinus tuukkaraski in Rask’s honour.

Robert Copeland, an entomologist at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi who grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, named the wasp after Rask to show his admiration for the player who has “had an outstanding career in one of the most difficult positions in sports,” according to a story in The Boston Globe (http://bit.ly/1JGNte9 ) on Tuesday.

A paper based on the discovery is scheduled to be published in April in the journal Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae.

“This species is named after the acrobatic goaltender for the Finnish National ice hockey team and the Boston Bruins, whose glove hand is as tenacious as the raptorial fore tarsus of this dryinid species,” the authors wrote in the paper.

Also, the project that led to the discovery was underwritten by the government of Finland, Rask’s homeland.

Rask said he has heard of Bruins fans naming their pets after him, but never an entire species.

“That’s funny. That’s pretty neat,” Rask said.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/the-bs-knees-bruins-goalie-tuukka-rask-has-species-of-wasp-named-after-him/feed0Winnipeg Jets v Boston BruinstheassociatedpresscanadaCBS News releases video of Buenos Aires demonstration, central to O Reilly disputehttp://o.canada.com/entertainment/cbs-news-releases-video-of-buenos-aires-demonstration-central-to-o-reilly-dispute
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/cbs-news-releases-video-of-buenos-aires-demonstration-central-to-o-reilly-dispute#commentsTue, 24 Feb 2015 14:30:48 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=593651&preview_id=593651]]>NEW YORK — CBS News on Monday released video from four stories it aired about the Falklands War in 1982, all part of a dispute involving Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly and his subsequent statements about covering the war.

None of the stories mentions O’Reilly, then a young CBS reporter, or makes any specific reference to a CBS crew member being hurt.

The television time travel was prompted by a Mother Jones article last week calling into question O’Reilly’s claims he reported in a “war zone” or “combat zone” during the brief conflict between Britain and Argentina. Few reporters made it to the front of the war, some 1,000 miles from the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.

Former CBS News correspondent Eric Engberg, who also was covering the event, characterized O’Reilly’s account as “dishonest” and “completely nutty”

O’Reilly has said that he covered an anti-government demonstration in Buenos Aires that turned violent and that a photographer he was working with was knocked to the ground and was bleeding. Describing the events two years ago, O’Reilly said he “dragged off” the photographer from danger.

Former CBS News correspondent Eric Engberg, who also was covering the event, characterized O’Reilly’s account as “dishonest” and “completely nutty” during a Huffington Post interview on Monday. Engberg said none of the camera operators working the night in question remembers any colleague being injured. The camera person who was said to be hurt has not spoken publicly about the matter.

During one of the CBS reports, then-anchor Dan Rather said that several television crew members were knocked to the ground and that North American television crews were “jostled.”

An Engberg report, also released by CBS on Monday, said police fired guns with tear gas and plastic bullets. He said in the report it was unknown how many people were hurt but at least some were seriously injured.

An Associated Press account of the demonstration said that police officers charged a group of about 50 journalists, beating some and trampling others.

The release of the videos, while providing more detail about the situation O’Reilly faced 33 years ago, did not resolve the issue of whether his retellings of the experience have been completely factual.

In addition to his work at Fox, o’Reilly has become a force in the publishing industry with a series of books on the deaths of historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ.

O’Reilly, on his program Monday night, showed portions of the CBS video and said it proved the event was no “walk in the park.” He interviewed Don Browne, a former NBC News Miami bureau chief who supervised the network’s Falklands coverage, who also described the situation. No mention was made in O’Reilly’s report Monday about any CBS News personnel being hurt.

The Mother Jones piece was printed shortly after NBC News anchor Brian Williams was suspended for misrepresenting his experiences in the Iraq War. O’Reilly, long the most popular prime-time figure in cable news, has called the piece a political hit job.

]]>http://o.canada.com/entertainment/cbs-news-releases-video-of-buenos-aires-demonstration-central-to-o-reilly-dispute/feed0TV-CBS-OReilly.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaCoyne: Recent rulings from surprisingly liberal Supreme Court beginning to become alarminghttp://o.canada.com/news/coyne-recent-rulings-from-surprisingly-liberal-supreme-court-beginning-to-become-alarming
http://o.canada.com/news/coyne-recent-rulings-from-surprisingly-liberal-supreme-court-beginning-to-become-alarming#commentsSat, 14 Feb 2015 01:10:27 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=591530]]>The dust is still settling from last week’s historic ruling of the Supreme Court in the matter of euthanasia. One early casualty: judicial restraint, the fading notion that the courts, in interpreting the law, should be bound by … something — the written text, the historical record, precedent, logical consistency. One by one, the court in recent years has liberated itself from these constraints; with the legalization of “assisted death,” it has slipped free altogether.

Indeed, the record will show that it was the Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper who presided over, indeed selected, the most liberal-activist court in our history. Not just liberal: activist.

On the first half of that statement, there can be no argument. This is indisputably Harper’s court. He appointed seven of the nine judges. Of these, two — Marshall Rothstein and Thomas Cromwell — were appointed while the government was still in a minority position. The other five — Michael Moldaver, Andromache Karakatsanis, Richard Wagner, Clément Gascon and Suzanne Côté — were appointed in the last four years, after the Conservatives had won their long-sought majority. If the court more and more resembles a runaway train, it is Harper’s train, as it will be Harper’s wreck.

Indeed, there is but one Liberal appointee, Rosalie Abella, on this most liberal of courts, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin having been appointed by the Conservative Brian Mulroney. Yet in one decision after another — prostitution, hate speech, the Nadon and Senate references, the right to strike — the court has taken it upon itself of late to push the boundaries of Canadian law to the limit, going where no previous Supreme Court would have dared. In some cases it has ignored precedent, in others it has rewritten the constitution. In the aggregate it has become almost impossible to discern any coherent underlying philosophy in the Court’s rulings, or to predict with any confidence how it will rule on a given question.

’Twas ever thus, of course — up to a point. The courts will inevitably put someone’s nose out of joint no matter how they rule, and while conservatives have long railed against “judicial activism,” they too often seem to mean any exercise of judicial review: the mandate, assigned to the courts by Parliament, to compare the law in front of them with another, more fundamental law — the Constitution — and to the extent of any discrepancy between the two to declare the former to be of no force or effect.

What makes a decision “activist,” then, is not merely that it results in this or that law “passed by a democratic Parliament” being overturned, but whether it does so in accordance with Parliament’s own previously expressed wishes: that is, whether the grounds for the decision can in fact be found in a sensible reading of the Constitution, or whether the court made it up. Even allowing for some difference of opinion over what is reasonable, it is clear that not every such reading can be defended, as it is sometimes clear that no reading was even tried.

Here again, this is nothing new: activism was with us, in one form or another, long before the Charter, as for example in the decisions of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council that essentially eviscerated the strong federal government the authors of the British North America Act had envisaged scant years after they drafted it.

But on its current tear, the court has ventured much further into the long grass than ever before. It isn’t its radicalism I mind: I think the prostitution decision was wholly justified in the name of Charter guarantees of “security of the person,” even if it made life difficult for the government. It’s the absence, all too often, of any rational basis for its rulings — the sometimes cheery disregard for the whole concept — that is beginning to become alarming.

Indeed, in its 2013 decision upholding the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code provisions against hate speech, the court amply demonstrated that activism can be as much a matter of omission as commission. The court has always been wobbly on speech cases but it had never before gone so far as to justify restricting speech in the name of freeing it (a failure to ban hate speech, it mused, might be “more rather than less damaging to freedom of expression”) or to suggest that truth was no defence (“the use of truthful statements should not provide a shield in the human rights context”).

That was perhaps an early warning sign of a court that was going off the rails. From there, it was on to the Nadon decision (on the eligibility of Federal Court judges from Quebec for appointment to the court) involving not only an unusually selective, not to say capricious reading of the relevant act, but an assertion of a wholly fictitious legislative record from which the court prudently did not bother to quote.

The Senate reference was nearly as bad: the court found, on the strength of a vague unease about the constitutional “architecture,” that a provision allowing “significant changes to the powers of the Senate and the number of senators” did not allow them to be as significantly changed as all that: or at any rate that they could not be changed to zero.

But it is with its last two decisions that we find a court seemingly detached from any intellectual moorings whatever. The decision finding public employees, even those deemed essential, have a constitutionally guaranteed “right to strike” seems to have been drafted, as the two dissenting judges noted, as if workers were still doffing their cloth caps to their 19th century overlords.

As for the euthanasia decision: what can one say about a ruling that finds a right to death in a section of the constitution devoted to the right to life — that does so in breezy defiance, not just of Parliament’s stated preferences, but of the court’s own ruling in a similar case, rendered two decades before? The court goes to elaborate and unconvincing lengths to suggest it had been moved by changes in “the matrix of legislative and social facts” since then. The reality, one suspects, is rather simpler. It did it because it wanted to.

“I say there is still hope for a contrarian, conservative, irreverent, fun to watch channel,” he told Postmedia. “Perhaps it’s on demand, perhaps it’s YouTube-style, perhaps it’s Glenn Beck-style. I think there is still demand.”

“I do not regard this as a failure of our ideas or a failure of the free market, I know our opponents will say it was both, I say it was neither.”

The Sun News Network went off the air at 5 a.m. ET Friday after negotiations to sell the troubled television channel were unsuccessful. No on-air announcement was made as the screen went dark and was replaced moments later with the Sun TV logo.

The closure of the conservative-angled news channel follows months of uncertainty surrounding its fate, after Postmedia Network Canada Corp. announced plans to purchase the Sun Media newspapers and websites from Quebecor for $316 million.

The Sun News channel was not included in the deal, which sparked outsiders to suggest the network could fold after years of struggling in the ratings.

In a news release to coincide with the early morning shutdown, Sun Media Corp. said it spent months actively seeking a potential buyer.

But it said “no party capable of taking over the channel was found” and that in view of the financial losses “there was no alternative to closing Sun News.”

Minutes after the station went dark, an on-screen message from Rogers Cable read: “Sun News Network is no longer available, at the discretion of the programmer.” []

“This is an unfortunate outcome; shutting down Sun News was certainly not our goal,” said Julie Tremblay, president and CEO of Media Group and Sun Media Corporation.

“Over the past four years, we tried everything we could to achieve sufficient market penetration to generate the profits needed to operate a national news channel. Sadly, the numerous obstacles to carriage that we encountered spelled the end of this venture.”

Sun News Network hit the airwaves in April 2011 with heightened expectations and the watchful eyes of media observers who nicknamed it “Fox News North.”
The channel promised to balance the “lefty bias” of traditional Canadian media, but its operations were plagued by tight production budgets which often left it with limited on-the-ground reporting and a large portion of its airtime dedicated to commentary and heavily editorialized news coverage. But it also quickly drew controversy with its occasionally combative on-air approach.

One of the most famous examples happened when former “Canada Live” host Krista Erickson drilled Quebec-born dancer Margie Gillis about whether she could receive government money for her dance performances. The segment went viral and drew a record number of complaints from viewers who felt Erickson was being unfair, but the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council eventually ruled the “aggressive” interview was acceptable.

Last September, Sun Media’s outspoken right-wing host Ezra Levant faced the ire of the Liberal party when he criticized Justin Trudeau for kissing a Toronto-area bride in a wedding photo. The bride later said Trudeau secured the groom’s OK beforehand.

Levant’s commentary also slurred Trudeau’s mother, Margaret, and his late father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Sun News issued an apology after Trudeau said he would no longer speak to the outlet’s reporters until there was an appropriate response.

The channel also got behind “Ford Nation,” a commentary series hosted by Rob and Doug Ford, that was pulled from the schedule less than a day after it premiered.

Despite plenty of media attention, Sun News was never able to translate the spotlight into a ratings boon.

Executives at the channel argued that at least part of that reason was the country’s broadcast regulator decided against allowing Sun News to be carried on basic cable. In 2013, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said Sun News didn’t meet the criteria for mandatory carriage. Sun News responded by saying the decision would spell the end of the channel.

Losses had mounted at the network, according to CRTC documents which said it lost $17 million in 2012 and $14.8 million in 2013.

With files from the Canadian Press

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/sun-news-ezra-levant-on-fox-news-north/feed0Sun News Closure 20150213postmedianews1Minutes after the station went dark, an on-screen message from Rogers Cable read: “Sun News Network is no longer available, at the discretion of the programmer.” Support builds in Bangor for creating Babe the Blue Ox statue to join 31-foot-tall Paul Bunyanhttp://o.canada.com/travel/support-builds-in-bangor-for-creating-babe-the-blue-ox-statue-to-join-31-foot-tall-paul-bunyan
http://o.canada.com/travel/support-builds-in-bangor-for-creating-babe-the-blue-ox-statue-to-join-31-foot-tall-paul-bunyan#commentsFri, 13 Feb 2015 14:12:33 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=591305&preview_id=591305]]>THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BANGOR, Maine — Some folks think Paul Bunyan is getting lonely after standing tall for 56 years in Bass Park, and they’re lobbying to recreate his hardworking companion, Babe the Blue Ox.

Artist J. Normand Martin, who designed the iconic statue, presented a city committee on Thursday with a scale mock-up of what a 20-foot-tall Babe might look like next to the original 31-foot-tall Bunyan.

The current statute, a regular stop for tourists, celebrates the city’s history from the late 1800s, when the Penobscot River was jammed with ships and the city was called the Lumber Capital of the World. Bunyan, dressed in a plaid shirt, stands in Bass Park with a double-sided axe on his shoulder and a peavey, a lumberjack’s hook, in his hand.

Martin, who’s 89, likes the idea of giving Bunyan a companion. He said Babe the Blue Ox was left off the original design because of concerns about the statue’s $20,000 cost when it was erected in 1959.

“I think it’d be a nice addition,” Martin said Thursday. “Babe the Blue Ox did a lot of the work in the woods. It wasn’t just Paul. The blue ox did a lot of the hauling. He was Paul’s helper.”

The idea has been kicking around for years.

The presentation of the mock-up on Thursday represented the first step in the process. Supporters including former city councillor Gerry Palmer are seeking $1,000 to create an official design. If officials and residents agree to proceed, then there’d be a private fundraising campaign. City Manager Cathy Conlow said the price tag could exceed $100,000.

18:36ET 12-02-15

]]>http://o.canada.com/travel/support-builds-in-bangor-for-creating-babe-the-blue-ox-statue-to-join-31-foot-tall-paul-bunyan/feed0Babe-The-Blue-Ox.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaStephen Harper focused on coming election; Justin Trudeau trips up with Eve Adams defectionhttp://o.canada.com/news/stephen-harper-focused-on-coming-election-justin-trudeau-trips-up-with-eve-adams-defection
http://o.canada.com/news/stephen-harper-focused-on-coming-election-justin-trudeau-trips-up-with-eve-adams-defection#commentsThu, 12 Feb 2015 21:56:31 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=591182]]>Stephen Harper has had a fine old week. Which is curious, considering he’s newly short one experienced and skilled foreign minister, one Toronto suburban MP and one formerly devoted retainer, with rumours of further departures swirling. How can things be so good for this prime minister, when they’re so bad?

Answer, in a nutshell: Opposition weakness. In last Friday’s Supreme Court decision legalizing assisted suicide, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were blessed with the equivalent of a breakaway on an open net. They fired the puck high and catapulted themselves headlong into the boards with the Eve Adams floor-crossing. Harper, meantime, carefully moved his players, in a way that shores up his defence in key areas. It does not bode well for the Grits as the government-in-waiting.

Consider that, the same morning Trudeau sat smiling beside turncoat Tory MP Adams, blithely unaware of the incredulous skepticism that was about to engulf them both, Mr. Harper without fanfare shifted Rob Nicholson to Foreign, Jason Kenney to Defence, and put James Moore atop his cabinet committee on the economy. All this was calculated to strengthen the Tories’ position ahead of the coming election. And it will likely have that effect.

Parsing Mr. Nicholson’s move to Foreign Affairs is a no-brainer: It keeps the most prominent future leadership aspirants — including Kenney, Moore, Lisa Raitt, Tony Clement and Chris Alexander — away from that prize, ensuring domestic peace, while installing someone who will do as he’s told. This appointment bolsters the theory that outgoing minister John Baird, for all his strengths, was too independent for the PM’s liking — particularly at a time when Harper personally is directing foreign policy, looking ahead to the coming campaign.

The Kenney move is intriguing. He is known to have dearly wanted Finance last year, only to see it go to Joe Oliver. And, as reported by my colleague John Ivison, Kenney was equally keen on Foreign Affairs, this time. But Defence is nothing to sneeze at; particularly now, with Canadian warplanes and special forces in Iraq. Of greater consequence, though, particularly from the point of view of the Prime Minister’s Office, may be that Kenney won’t be easily bamboozled by his new department.

Within Conservative circles there is a view that the F-35 fighter meltdown was bequeathed to the government by the Defence Department, and that it might have been avoided had the minister at the time, Peter MacKay, been less deferential to the military brass. Since then Defence has been shorn of much of its authority over procurement — but that hasn’t turned out to be any kind of fix.

More than two years after the F-35 purchase went supernova, and even as Canada’s old warplanes are coming in handy in Iraq and Eastern Europe, there is still no progress on a new fighter. Meantime, with Arctic sovereignty on the boil, the first of five or six new Arctic patrol ships is not due to float until 2018, at the earliest. The Navy last year retired two destroyers and two supply ships. Its Halifax-class frigates are undergoing a refit.

Amid these straits, the Canadian Forces needs an influential minister who will pound the table for more resources, and have the PM’s ear. Kenney qualifies. His appointment further signals that Defence will loom large both in the coming budget, and the Tory election platform.

Why did Harper not move Oliver out of Finance, while he was at it? It has become painfully clear, since the collapse in the price of oil sideswiped the government’s fiscal plans, that Oliver struggles to communicate. In House of Commons exchanges he barely holds his own. But he has other attributes, namely reliability. A change in such a key position so soon would have unsettled markets and sent a message of panic. Therefore Moore is elevated to a position from which he can speak with greater authority about the government’s economic measures. The industry minister is easily the cabinet’s most fluid speaker on kitchen-table issues.

Beyond all that, looming in the middle distance, is this question: What surprises will the April budget hold? The Tories know they’re vulnerable on procurement and the botched veterans file. Further, senior Conservatives are aware that Trudeau’s economic plan, aimed at soft conservative swing voters, is looming. And there’s the environment, where the government has long been three steps behind, and continues to be.

Given all this, and the nature of the threat Trudeau presents, it will not be surprising if the budget brings more money for veterans, procurement reform, something new on greenhouse gases (in lockstep with the government of Alberta), and a broader-than-expected middle-class tax cut. The Conservatives believe they have some fiscal room for the latter, I am told, despite plunging oil revenue.

Here’s the bottom line: The great tax-cut wars of 2015 are set to begin. Next to that, defections and departures are small potatoes. The Liberals have unaccountably gotten themselves sidetracked at a critical moment with internal manoeuvring and controversy; while Harper quietly takes care of business, his gaze trained raptor-like on his core suburban voter. It’s déjà vu, perhaps, all over again.

National Post

Twitter.com/mdentandt

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/stephen-harper-focused-on-coming-election-justin-trudeau-trips-up-with-eve-adams-defection/feed0Eve Adams, Justin TrudeaumikedentandtParis Mayor Anne Hidalgo receives feasibility study on bid for 2024 Olympicshttp://o.canada.com/sports/paris-mayor-anne-hidalgo-receives-feasibility-study-on-bid-for-2024-olympics
http://o.canada.com/sports/paris-mayor-anne-hidalgo-receives-feasibility-study-on-bid-for-2024-olympics#commentsThu, 12 Feb 2015 15:53:00 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=591027&preview_id=591027]]>Paris moved a step closer to bidding for the 2024 Olympics on Thursday when Mayor Anne Hidalgo welcomed the results of a feasibility study on bringing the games back to the capital after a 100-year absence.

Hidalgo, who received the feasibility study during a ceremony at city hall, said “decisive steps” have been made toward a Paris candidacy. With the support of French President Francois Hollande already secured, convincing Hidalgo to give her approval has been the main task of French Olympic officials in recent months.

Last November, Hidalgo said she was concerned about the costs, the environmental impact and the spectre of white elephants if France hosted the games.

Although she did not give her go-ahead Thursday, the mayor seemed to embrace the project brought forward by Bernard Lapasset, who heads the French Committee for International Sport and would lead the French bid with IOC member Tony Estanguet if Paris decides to go forward.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo receives from the vice-chairman of the National Olympic Committee, Bernard Lapasset, a report on the Paris candidacy for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, on Feb. 12, 2015 in Paris. PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images []

Hidalgo said she was pleased with the financial and environmental guarantees in the study, but still needs to consult with members of the Paris city council and nearby cities that could be involved before making a decision on whether to bid. An announcement is expected in April.

“The fact that the IOC recently adopted 40 proposals in favour of sustainability and that the Olympic movement will fund the bid up to 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion) has boosted everything,” Hidalgo said. “But we still need to define precisely our economic model.”

Because of France’s economic struggles, no public money will be spent if the country decides to go ahead, officials have said. If Paris gets the games, state and local authorities would only contribute up to 50 per cent of the operational costs.

Paris last hosted the Olympics in 1924 and mounted unsuccessful bids for the 1992, 2008 and 2012 Summer Games.

Rome and Boston are the only declared candidates so far for 2024. Germany will decide between Hamburg and Berlin as its candidate. Other possible contenders include a city or region in South Africa; Doha, Qatar; Baku, Azerbaijan; and Budapest, Hungary.

The deadline for submission of preliminary bids to the IOC is Sept. 15. The host city will be selected in 2017.

After recently saying France would be unable to bid for both the 2025 World Expo and the 2024 Olympics, Hidalgo backpedalled Thursday and said the two events could be pursued at the same time.

The mayor said seeing the global reaction to the terror attacks in Paris that left 20 people dead last month made her realize how much people care for the French capital.

“It was a determining fact that sped up our work,” Hildago said.

Although Lapasset did not provide details of the potential bid, he said existing infrastructure would be at the heart of the project. The Stade de France, a new cycling track on the outskirts of Paris, the Roland Garros tennis stadium and many Parisian landmarks including the Grand Palais and Champ de Mars are likely to be used.

“With the adoption of the 2020 agenda, IOC members have sent a strong signal that bidders don’t necessarily need to go overboard,” Estanguet said. “Thanks to the existing infrastructure, we don’t have to spend much.”

The main construction requirements for the bid include an aquatic centre, Olympic village and media centre.

“We are thinking about two possible scenarios, but we can’t tell you much because of competition from the others,” Lapasset said. “We’ll keep the first word for the IOC. But in any case, 80 per cent of the athletes would be within 30 minutes of the Olympic village.”

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/paris-mayor-anne-hidalgo-receives-feasibility-study-on-bid-for-2024-olympics/feed0FRANCE-OLY-PARIS-2024theassociatedpresscanadaParis Mayor Anne Hidalgo receives from the vice-chairman of the National Olympic Committee, Bernard Lapasset, a report on the Paris candidacy for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, on Feb. 12, 2015 in Paris. PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty ImagesCelebrated Little League team stripped of championship title for using ineligible playershttp://o.canada.com/sports/celebrated-little-league-team-stripped-of-championship-title-for-using-ineligible-players
http://o.canada.com/sports/celebrated-little-league-team-stripped-of-championship-title-for-using-ineligible-players#commentsWed, 11 Feb 2015 21:54:06 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=590850&preview_id=590850]]>CHICAGO — A Little League team that captured the attention of the nation and the hearts of its hometown was stripped of its national title Wednesday after an investigation revealed that team officials had falsified boundaries so they could add ineligible players to the roster.

Only last summer, the all-black Jackie Robinson West team was the toast of Chicago and was honoured with trips to San Francisco and to the White House.

But the sport’s governing body, Little League International, announced that team officials had changed the boundaries that determine where players must live. And after learning that their scheme had been exposed, they scrambled to convince surrounding leagues to go along with what they had done.

“This is so heartbreaking,” said Stephen D. Keener, the Little League International president and CEO. “It is a sad day for a bunch of kids who we have come to really like … who did nothing wrong.” But “we cannot tolerate the actions of some of the adults involved here.”

The organization suspended the manager, Darold Butler, and suspended the team from Little League tournament play until the local league’s president and treasurer have been replaced. A district official who is believed to have helped change the boundaries was also removed.

All of the team’s victories were thrown out, meaning that the wins will be awarded to other teams. Mountain Ridge Little League, the team from Las Vegas that lost to Jackie Robinson West in the national championship game will be awarded the title.

Parents were angered by the news, saying their children were being unfairly punished.

Jackie Robinson West officials expanded the boundaries of their league at the expense of three neighbouring leagues, so that the boundaries included the homes of several players on the team who would not otherwise have been eligible.

“The boys had no inside dealings … about any borders, and I as a mother had no idea there were any (questions about) boundaries,” said Venisa Green, who was driving her son, Brandon, to school Wednesday when they were “blindsided” by the news as it came over the radio.

“We weren’t involved in anything that could have caused us to be stripped of our champions,” said Brandon, appearing at a news conference with his mother.

Venisa Green said the move was especially disheartening because the team was part of efforts to keep children safe and prepare them for college in a community better known for gangs and drugs than any kind of achievement.

“What would you have us do, Little League, for them to be killed on the streets of Chicago?” she asked.

She wondered if the fact that the players were black had any role in the ruling, something that the Rev. Jesse Jackson and others questioned as well.

Members of the Jackie Robinson West little league team celebrated their U.S. Little League Championship title at a rally last August. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

“Is this about boundaries or race?” Jackson asked.

Jackson did not discuss whether he blamed any league officials for what had happened, but in Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested that it was the adults who let down the boys.

“The fact is, you know, some dirty dealing by some adults doesn’t take anything away from the accomplishments of those young men,” he said.

It was a stunning end to a story that began last summer as the team marched through the Little League tournament. Their odyssey ended with a loss to South Korea in the world championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

For days, Chicago was enthralled by the story, in large part because the team was from the city’s South Side, an area beyond the city limits that has become almost synonymous with crime and gun violence. They were part of one of the most heartwarming World Series in Little League history, with the country rooting for Jackie Robinson West and a team from Philadelphia that had Mo’ne Davis, a star pitcher who was the first girl to appear in the series for a U.S. team since 2004.

Jackie Robinson West players got to meet U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in November. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

When the Chicago team returned, the boys were treated as conquering heroes. Thousands of people lined city streets to catch a glimpse of them as they were paraded by bus from their home field to a downtown park. The team was treated to a trip to a major league World Series game in San Francisco and then a visit with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House.

But behind the scenes, Keener said, the investigation was creating a different story after a coach from a nearby suburb alleged that Jackie Robinson West had violated rules by poaching top suburban players.

The investigation, which was first reported by DNAinfo.com, appeared to end in December when the national organization said it had uncovered no violations. But officials said they would reopen the inquiry if new information surfaced. About that time, the organization learned of questions about boundary maps involving multiple leagues. The investigation resumed.

In an interview, Keener said Jackie Robinson West officials expanded the boundaries of their league at the expense of three neighbouring leagues, so that the boundaries included the homes of several players on the team who would not otherwise have been eligible.

The investigation found that at least one district official who had helped redraw the map went to the other teams to ask that they go along with what the team had done, Keener said.

“They (said) ‘We know we took your territory. We shouldn’t have done it, but will you give it to us’ to essentially legitimize it,” Keener said.

The other leagues refused, he said.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/celebrated-little-league-team-stripped-of-championship-title-for-using-ineligible-players/feed0LLWS-US-Champion-Residency-Baseball.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaFILE - In this Aug. 27, 2014 file photo, Jackie Robinson West All Stars Little League baseball team manager Darold Butler shakes the hands with fans as his team participate in a rally in Chicago to celebrate the team's U.S. Little League Championship. Little League International has stripped Chicago's Jackie Robinson West team of its national title after finding the team falsified its boundary map. The league made the announcement Wednesday morning, Feb. 11, 2015, saying the Chicago team violated regulations by placing players on the team who didn't qualify because they lived outside the team's boundaries. Little League International also suspended Jackie Robinson West manager Darold Butler from league activity.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2014 file photo, members of the Jackie Robinson West All Stars Little League baseball team participate in a rally in Chicago celebrating the team's U.S. Little League Championship. Little League International has stripped Chicago's Jackie Robinson West team of its national title after finding the team falsified its boundary map. The league made the announcement Wednesday morning, Feb. 11, 2015, saying the Chicago team violated regulations by placing players on the team who didn't qualify because they lived outside the team's boundaries. Little League International also suspended Jackie Robinson West manager Darold Butler from league activity. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2014, file photo President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama pose with members of the Jackie Robinson West little league team in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Little League International has stripped Chicago's Jackie Robinson West team of its national title after finding the team falsified its boundary map. The league made the announcement Wednesday morning, Feb. 11, 2015, saying the Chicago team violated regulations by placing players on the team who didn't qualify because they lived outside the team's boundaries. Little League International also suspended Jackie Robinson West manager Darold Butler from league activity. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)Leaders in Minsk for crucial Ukraine peace talkshttp://o.canada.com/news/leaders-in-minsk-for-crucial-ukraine-peace-talks
http://o.canada.com/news/leaders-in-minsk-for-crucial-ukraine-peace-talks#commentsWed, 11 Feb 2015 20:22:18 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=590769&preview_id=590769]]>By Yuras Karmanau

MINSK, Belarus — The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine engaged in crucial peace talks Wednesday in the Belarusian capital as fighting still raged in eastern Ukraine.

The talks, brokered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, aim to negotiate a deal to end the hostilities between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists that have killed more 5,300 people since April.

In a diplomatic blitz that began last week, Merkel and Hollande visited Kyiv and Moscow to speak to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin, paving the way for the talks in Minsk.

“The entire world is waiting to see whether the situation moves toward de-escalation, weapons pullback, cease-fire or … spins out of control,” Poroshenko said upon arriving.

After talking in private for several hours, the four leaders briefly posed for photographers and went into a broader meeting involving senior officials. Putin and Poroshenko shook hands before the talks.

Russia’s ambassador to Belarus, Alexander Surikov, told The Associated Press that “some progress has been made,” but wouldn’t offer any details.

Details of a possible peace deal haven’t been released but key sticking points at the talks include:

— Drawing a new line of division: Ukraine wants the same one that was agreed upon in September, while Russia wants a new line that reflects the rebels’ significant territorial gains since then.

— Withdrawing Russian troops and equipment from eastern Ukraine: Russia says it does not have any troops and military hardware in the east, a stance scoffed at by Ukraine and NATO.

— Securing the Ukraine-Russian border: Ukraine wants to get control back over its border with Russia to stem the flow of Russian fighters and weapons, while Russia says that’s up to the rebels who have captured some key border posts.

An elderly woman walks past destroyed vehicles after a bus station was hit during a recent shelling between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government forces. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

— Giving the separatists more autonomy: Ukraine says it may offer them broad rights under Ukrainian law but Russia wants guarantees. Russia also wants Ukraine to end its financial blockade of the east.

European leaders have warned there’s no guarantee a deal will be reached Wednesday with Moscow, which the West says is fueling the insurgency. Germany and France have rushed to mediate after a surge in fighting this year.

In the rebel-held city of Donetsk, rebel officials said five people were killed and nine wounded in a shelling attack Wednesday on a bus station, where an Associated Press reporter saw one body. Officials in Kyiv said Wednesday that 19 troops had been killed and 78 wounded in a day of fighting in Debaltseve, a hotly contested transport hub in eastern Ukraine.

Poroshenko posted a statement saying he had made an impromptu visit early Wednesday to the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, where Kyiv says 16 people were killed and 48 wounded in a rocket strike Tuesday. The city is 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the nearest front line.

“We demand an unconditional peace,” Poroshenko said. “We demand a cease-fire, a withdrawal of all foreign troops, and closing of the border…. We will find a compromise within the country.”

Later, in comments carried by Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Poroshenko said he was “ready to impose martial law across the country if we are not able to reach an agreement today in Minsk.”

At a news conference in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there was “notable progress” in the peace process, but gave no details. He said the most important goal of the talks would be to implement a cease-fire, but warned that Ukraine only could fully re-establish its control over the border with Russia if it offers a degree of autonomy to the east and lifts its economic blockade.

“To give away the Russian part of the border also would be to cut them (the rebels) off even from humanitarian help and allow them to be surrounded,” Lavrov said.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said early Wednesday that “quite a number of problems remain” in negotiations, including the future of eastern Ukraine, guarantees about the Ukraine-Russia border, and the prospects of a possible cease-fire, weapons pullback and prisoner exchange.

Fabius said the aim of the talks is to win an accord that works on the ground, “not just one on paper.”

Russia’s envoy to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, said he expects a deal to be reached but added that “no one can give a 100 per cent guarantee for that.”

—-

Peter Leonard in Donetsk, Ukraine, Laura Mills and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

YOLA, Nigeria — When Islamic extremists snatched more than 270 girls from the Chibok boarding school in Nigeria in the dead of night, protests broke out worldwide. The U.S. pledged to help find them, and the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag was born.

Some 10 months later, most are still missing. The Boko Haram extremist group sees the mass kidnapping as a shining symbol of success, and has abducted hundreds of other girls, boys and women. The militants brag to their new captives about the surrender of the Chibok girls, their conversion to Islam and their marriage to fighters.

“They told me the Chibok girls have a new life where they learn to fight,” says Abigail John, 15, who was held by Boko Haram for more than four weeks before escaping. “They said we should be like them and accept Islam.”

The kidnappings reflect the growing ambition and brazenness of Boko Haram, which seeks to impose an Islamic state across Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. Some 10,000 people have died in the Islamic uprising over the past year, compared to 2,000 in the previous four years, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations.

“It’s devastating,” said Bukky Shonibare, an activist in Abuja, of the kidnappings. “It makes you wonder, what is being done?”

John was among three girls interviewed by The Associated Press who recently escaped from Boko Haram. While their stories could not be independently verified, they were strikingly similar, and all spoke of their captors’ obsession with the Chibok girls.

The girls had no idea whether the militants were telling the truth or making up stories to taunt their victims. John says the fighters enjoyed relating how they had whipped and slapped the Chibok girls until they submitted.

When the Nigerian air force dropped a bomb on the house where John was confined, she tried to escape, she says. She wrestled with the fighters, but they broke her am and hauled her off to another house.

At the end of last year, the Nigerian army liberated the town where she was held. She is now in Yola with her father, sister and six brothers, in a house overcrowded with refugees. She finally was able to get medical attention for her fractured right arm, which remains in a cast.

The kidnappings of the Chibok girls in April brought Boko Haram to the world’s attention in a way the group could not have imagined. The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls was tweeted more than 480,000 times globally in early May, and U.S. first lady Michelle Obama held it up in a sign to television cameras. She said at the time, “In these girls, Barack and I see our own daughters …we can only imagine the anguish their parents are feeling right now.”

On Wednesday, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan again promised the girls will be brought home alive, saying he is “more hopeful” about their fate now that a multinational force is being formed to fight Boko Haram.

“Give us some time over the Chibok girls. The story will be better in a few weeks,” Jonathan promised, as he has many times in the past, on a nationally televised program.

In the 10 months since the mass kidnapping, Boko Haram has increased the tempo and ferocity of its insurgency. In August, it began seizing and holding towns, and — copying the Islamic State group — declared it would recreate an ancient Islamic caliphate in the region. The fighting has since spilled across Nigeria’s borders, and the African Union this month authorized a multinational force of 8,750 troops to try to stamp it out.

“They told me the Chibok girls have a new life where they learn to fight,” says Abigail John, 15, who was held by Boko Haram for more than four weeks before escaping. “They said we should be like them and accept Islam.” (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)

Dorcas Aiden, 20, was another of those caught in Boko Haram’s siege. She had finished high school and was living at home when the war came to her village. Fighters took her to a house in the town of Gulak and held her captive for two weeks last September.

The more than 50 teenage girls crammed into the house were beaten if they refused to study Quranic verses or conduct daily Muslim prayers, she says. When the fighters got angry, they shot their guns in the air. Aiden finally gave in and denied her Christian faith to become Muslim, at least in name, she says.

One day, the fighters stormed into the room where she was kept locked up with a dozen other girls. They showed a video of the Chibok girls, dressed in hijabs, with only their faces visible through their veils. Aiden says she was so overwhelmed that she cried.

The fighters said the Chibok girls were all Muslims now, and some were training as fighters to fight women, which Boko Haram men are not supposed to do.

Aiden’s captors boasted about how they had married off the Chibok girls, she says. One fighter said he would marry her. She balked.

“I said, ‘No, I will not marry you,”‘ Aiden recounts. “So he pulled out a gun and beat my hand.”

Aiden says the insurgents threatened to break the legs of any girl who tried to escape, but she and six others ran anyway. As she made her way through abandoned farm fields, she noticed that Boko Haram had filled about 10 other houses with kidnapped girls and women.

Dorcas Aiden had finished high school and was living at home when the war came to her village. Fighters took her to a house in the town of Gulak and held her captive for two weeks last September. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)

Aiden, who is now in Yola with tens of thousands of other refugees, dreams of going to university, in defiance of the extremists’ insistence that girls should be married, not educated. The nickname Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden or sinful.”

Another escapee, a shy 16-year-old captured in September, begs that her name not be published because she escaped only a few weeks ago and believes the fighters are actively searching for her. After the girl’s village was attacked four times, she fled to a great-aunt. Then that village also was targeted, she says.

The fighters held her for four months. When she escaped, she walked through the bush and across the border into Cameroon to avoid areas under Boko Haram’s control. She is now taking refuge in a Catholic church in Yola.

All the girls say they were not raped, despite the fears of some villagers. Instead, the fighters said they wanted the girls to remain virgins until they were married off.

“They said they are doing the work of God, so they will not touch us,” the 16-year-old recounts.

As she tells her story, she fidgets and looks down at her hands, clasped in her lap. She recounts how one fighter, nicknamed “Tall Arab,” was set on marrying her. She pleaded that she was too young, but was told, “Do you think you are better than those Chibok girls that we kidnapped?”

The man told her the Chibok girls were “enjoying their matrimonial homes,” she remembers. He also said the Chibok girls had turned against their parents, and were “ready to slit their parents’ throats” if they ever saw them again.

Some never will. Even if the girls are released, people in Chibok say at least 13 of their parents have died since they were seized, in Boko Haram violence or possibly stress-related illness.

While dozens of Chibok girls escaped on their own after their kidnapping, 219 are still missing. Nigeria’s military initially feared any action could lead to the girls being killed. But villagers reported last week that air force jets have begun bombing the Sambisa Forest — the area where fighters told Aiden some girls still are held captive.

—-

AP writer Michelle Faul contributed to this story from Dakar, Senegal.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/boko-haram-kidnaps-hundreds-in-nigeria-taunts-victims-with-stories-of-abducted-girls/feed1Nigeria-Bring-Back-Our-Girls.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaAbigail John, speaks to a journalist in Yola, Nigeria. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)"They told me the Chibok girls have a new life where they learn to fight," says Abigail John, 15, who was held by Boko Haram for more than four weeks before escaping. "They said we should be like them and accept Islam." (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)Dorcas Aiden had finished high school and was living at home when the war came to her village. Fighters took her to a house in the town of Gulak and held her captive for two weeks last September. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)Ice climber missing in Banff National Park was on military exercise: spokeswomanhttp://o.canada.com/news/ice-climber-missing-in-banff-national-park-was-on-military-exercisespokeswoman
http://o.canada.com/news/ice-climber-missing-in-banff-national-park-was-on-military-exercisespokeswoman#commentsSat, 07 Feb 2015 14:32:29 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=589845&preview_id=589845]]>LAKE LOUISE, Alta. — A search and rescue technician with the Canadian military is missing in Banff National Park after being swept away in an avalanche.

Media reports have identified him as Sgt. Mark Salesse, 44, of 17 Wing at Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg.

Capt. Bettina McCulloch-Drake says a soldier was on a routine mountain training exercise Thursday when he was caught in an avalanche.

She says they are hopeful he is found safe, but adds they’ve been told the weather is “problematic.”

Parks Canada, who is leading the search, says an “incident” occurred on the Polar Circus ice-climbing route.

It says searchers were unable to get to the area on Thursday night due to avalanche hazard, deteriorating weather and nightfall.

Parks Canada says it was trying to do a helicopter search of the area on Friday because a ground search was impossible due to avalanche conditions.

“At the moment we are hopeful he will be found safe,” McCulloch-Drake said Friday, declining to confirm any details about the military member’s identity.

A dog handler and searchers from Parks Canada Banff, Yoho, Kootenay and Jasper are involved in the search.

According to a military news release in 2011, Salesse was badly injured during another training exercise that year when he fell from an ice wall near Ouray, Colo.

At the time, Salesse was with 5 Wing Goose Bay, N.L. He suffered injuries to his lower back, ribs, leg and pelvis.

Salesse was also stationed for a time at CFB Comox in British Columbia, and has been a member of the Governor General’s Foot Guards in Ottawa. He won a Governor General’s Medal for bravery for service in Croatia.

DAKAR, Senegal — Nigeria’s electoral commission will postpone Feb. 14 presidential and legislative elections for six weeks to give a new multinational force time to secure northeastern areas under the sway of Boko Haram, an official close to the commission told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Millions could be disenfranchised if next week’s voting went ahead while the Islamic extremists hold a large swath of the northeast and commit mayhem that has driven 1.5 million people from their homes.

Civil rights groups staged a small protest Saturday against any proposed postponement. Police prevented them from entering the electoral commission headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. Armed police blocked roads leading to the building.

Electoral officials were meeting with political parties Saturday, asking their views on a postponement requested by the national security adviser, politician Bashir Yusuf told reporters. He said the adviser argued the military will be unable to provide adequate security for the elections because of operations in the northeast.

The Nigerian official, who is knowledgeable of the discussions, said the Independent National Electoral Commission will announce the postponement later Saturday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

A major offensive with warplanes and ground troops from Chad and Nigeria already has forced the insurgents from a dozen towns and villages in the past 10 days. Even greater military strikes by more countries are planned.

African Union officials were ending a three-day meeting Saturday in Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital, to finalize details of a 7,500-strong force from Nigeria and its neighbours Chad, Cameroon, Benin and Niger. Details of funding, with the Africans wanting the United Nations and European Union to pay, may delay the mission.

Nigeria’s home-grown extremist group has responded with attacks on one town in Cameroon and two in Niger this week. Officials said more than 100 civilians were killed and 500 wounded in Cameroon. Niger said about 100 insurgents and one civilian died in attacks Friday. Several security forces from both countries were killed.

International concern has increased along with the death toll: Some 10,000 killed in the uprising in the past year compared to 2,000 in the four previous years, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations.

The United States has been urging Nigeria to press ahead with the voting. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Nigeria two weeks ago and said that “one of the best ways to fight back against Boko Haram” was by holding credible and peaceful elections, on time.

“It’s imperative that these elections happen on time as scheduled,” Kerry said.

The elections had been called early. Elections in 2011 were postponed until April. May 29 is the deadline for a new government to be installed.

Officials in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration have been calling for a postponement.

Any delay is opposed by an opposition coalition fielding former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari, though the opposition stands to take most votes in the northeast.

Supporters of both sides are threatening violence if their candidate does not win. Some 800 people were killed in riots in the mainly Muslim north after Buhari, a Muslim, lost 2011 elections to Jonathan, a Christian from the south.

Analysts say the vote is too close to call, the most tightly contested election since decades of military dictatorship ended in 1999.

Jonathan’s party has won every election since then but the failure of the military to curb the 5-year Islamic uprising, growing corruption and an economy hit by halved oil prices have hurt the president of Africa’s biggest oil producer and most populous nation of about 170 million.

A postponement also will give electoral officials more time to deliver some 30 million voter cards. The commission had said the non-delivery of cards to nearly half of the 68.8 million registered voters was not a good reason to delay the vote.

MacLeod told supporters at her Ottawa campaign headquarters she would not have quit the race if Baird had not announced he was resigning as foreign affairs minister and soon would also quit his Ottawa West-Nepean seat in Parliament.

“I’m going to be brutally honest with you, no I wouldn’t have. I’d still be in the race,” she said. “That, coupled with the fact that Vic Fedeli had gotten out of the race, made it very clear that I had some very tough decisions to make.”

MacLeod, who has a young daughter attending school in Ottawa, said she was getting a lot of “pressure” from constituents to “come back home” and run as a federal candidate.

It has been a “very intense” few days contemplating her future, added MacLeod, who insisted she still hasn’t decided if she will seek Baird’s seat once he officially resigns as an MP.

“The last 72 hours have changed my political reality,” she said. “I’ll let you know in a couple of weeks what I decide in terms of whether I’m going to pursue a federal career.”

MacLeod’s other decision was to throw her support behind perceived front-runner Christine Elliott, the deputy PC leader and widow of former finance minister Jim Flaherty, who was also endorsed by Fedeli when he withdrew on Wednesday.

Her move to abandon a leadership bid comes on the day candidates had to post $50,000 to stay in the race, which was one of the reasons Fedeli cited when he pulled out, but MacLeod insisted money was not the issue.

“We actually had to recall our $50,000 cheque for the deposit in the last 24 to 48 hours,” she said.

PC party officials said the three remaining candidates all paid their deposits by Friday afternoon.

London-area MPP Monte McNaughton said he’s the only real ‘conservative’ option in the race, insisting voters will always chose the Liberals if the PCs offer “Liberal-lite” alternatives like his rivals.

“It’s now down to three candidates, the field is set, and I’m really excited about the momentum we are gaining across the province,” McNaughton said in an interview. “We’re signing up thousands of party members.”

Barrie MP Patrick Brown, the only leadership hopeful who doesn’t have a seat in the Ontario legislature, said he expected the race would come down to him and Elliott.

“It’s going to be the same old top-down establishment party that my chief opponent is pitching, and I’m going to be pitching a vision of a party that is process driven and has a fresh renewal,” Brown said in an interview. “We always thought it was going to be between us and Christine.”

Progressive Conservatives across the province will be eligible to vote May 3 and May 7 for the leader to replace Tim Hudak, who resigned after the Tories’ fourth consecutive election loss last June. The results will be announced May 9.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/lisa-macleod-withdraws-from-ontario-progressive-conservative-leadership-race/feed0Lisa MacLeodthecanadianpressMaher: Physician-assisted dying is a decision too tough for politicianshttp://o.canada.com/news/maher-physician-assisted-dying-is-a-decision-too-tough-for-politicians
http://o.canada.com/news/maher-physician-assisted-dying-is-a-decision-too-tough-for-politicians#commentsFri, 06 Feb 2015 15:39:39 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=589540]]>If you read the Supreme Court’s decision on physician-assisted suicide Friday and then watched MPs respond to that decision, it is hard not to conclude that we are better off having judges decide questions like this.

The ruling is 68 pages of good thinking. The nine justices of the court have delivered a compassionate, wise and clear decision, establishing sensible rules allowing doctors to help patients who are “grievous and irremediably ill” to end their lives.

The court does this by overturning two sections of the Criminal Code that prevent assisted suicide, but only for mentally competent adults who are suffering terribly from an illness from which they will not recover.

As with the Bedford decision, in which the court found that the laws against prostitution violate the human rights of sex workers, the Supremes have suspended their ruling to give Parliament 12 months to make a new law.

MPs should have done so already. The facts have changed greatly since the 1993 Rodriguez decision, when the court upheld the prohibition against assisted suicide. Other jurisdictions have shown that it is possible to set up safeguards.

Parliament ought to have acted before now to offer relief to the unnecessary suffering that terminally ill patients endure under the current system. The top court has only stepped in because Parliament has not done so.

Now that the court has shown the way, Parliament should get down to the business of establishing a “carefully designed and managed system” to protect vulnerable people from abuse and error.

Do not hold your breath.

Lee Carter holds a bouquet of flowers inside The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa on Friday morning. She and her husband accompanied her 89-year-old mother Kathleen (Kay) Carter, who suffered from spinal stenosis, to Switzerland in 2010 to end her life. [THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick]

After the decision, Justice Minister Peter MacKay told reporters that the government will “look at this decision carefully, thoughtfully.”

A reporter asked if it is realistic to finish that examination before an election.

“Well, look, that is a consideration, but not the primary consideration,” MacKay said.

The election, of course, is actually the primary consideration, and because of the election, Parliament will not do its job of designing a system, which means the provinces and medical institutions will have to do the job.

It is easy to say that MacKay and his boss, Stephen Harper, should draft a law, but if you were in their shoes you might do what they will do instead: Punt this issue until after the election.

Polling shows that Canadians are concerned with end-of-life care, and that they generally approve of physician-assisted suicide.

The baby boomers whose votes decide elections are worried about the legal framework that will govern the ends of their lives and the lives of their loved ones. As medical technology has extended the lives of terminally ill patients, more Canadians are suffering, hooked to machines for years. Almost everyone agrees that we need to sort out sensible rules to reduce that suffering.

The problem for the Conservatives is that the only people who disagree are at the heart of their coalition: religious social conservatives.

One of the lawyers who argued against this decision on behalf of several social conservative groups was Robert Staley, who happens to also be the lawyer representing the prime minister in the Mike Duffy matter.

Staley, whose children work in the Prime Minister’s Office, also argued against the Bedford decision.

After that decision, the Conservatives signalled that they would make a new law, and began a process of consultation that allowed them to communicate meaningfully with social conservatives horrified by legalized prostitution.

The government is not able to promise them a legislative remedy this time.

Although the players before the court are very similar — social conservatives versus academics — the political reality is different because public opinion is so different.

Polling shows that Canadians, especially women, were largely convinced by the government’s arguments about prostitution. Opinion is likely moving toward greater acceptance of the harm-reduction philosophy that guided the court, but many Canadians were convinced that the government should criminalize the purchase of sex to minimize the harm the trade causes to women.

There is no similarly powerful argument for the Conservatives to make to the public if they were to try to pass a new law banning physician-assisted suicide.

Since Harper became leader of the Canadian Alliance, commentators like me have been writing columns saying that he would be more successful if he only moved closer to the middle of the political spectrum. He has prospered by ignoring our advice, hewing right, carefully tending his base and finding messages on the economy and crime that appeal to swing voters in the suburbs.

This decision poses a challenge to him because the message that his base wants to hear — that the government will find a way to undo this decision — is not the message that will appeal to swing voters.

It’s hard to see how Harper can turn this into a political win in an election year, so expect him to do nothing, forcing the provinces to lead in his place.

It’s likely just as well that judges — who do not have to worry about pleasing their electoral base — are the ones entrusted with this kind of life-and-death decision..

Wall says the wage freeze also applies to senior government officials and other non-unionized executives, such as Crown corporation and health region employees.

He says the move is for one year and is expected to save $15 million.

Wall is also asking the board that governs the salaries of legislature members to implement a freeze.

“We’re going to direct our members of the board of internal economy … to move a motion waiving the MLA increase that would happen this year otherwise,” Wall said Friday.

That 2.4 per cent increase, tied to inflation, is set for April.

The government will also be writing to school divisions and post-secondary institutions to ask that they apply a freeze, Wall said.

“We need to lead by example,” he said.

“We have a period of time, because of oil revenue, where we’re going to all need to make some tough decisions.”

Wall said earlier this week that low world oil prices mean Saskatchewan will face a budget shortfall of between $600 million and $800 million this year.

He told delegates to the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association annual meeting that the shortfall amounts to about seven per cent of the province’s revenue.

He said that means there are likely to be spending cuts, because the government wants to keep taxes low and not run a deficit.

In its last budget update in November, the province was projecting a $70.9-million surplus for 2014-15.

Wall stressed that soft oil markets haven’t hurt Saskatchewan’s economy nearly as much as neighbouring Alberta. He noted that Saskatchewan is benefiting from a strengthening potash market, good performance from the agriculture sector and increased exports because of the lower value of the Canadian dollar.

Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, his cabinet ministers and members of the legislature are taking a five per cent pay cut as the province deals with billions of dollars in lost oil revenue.

The price of oil had slipped into the US$40s a barrel, but has rallied somewhat recently and was back over US$50 a barrel on Friday.

MacLeod told supporters at her Ottawa campaign headquarters she would not have quit the race if Baird had not announced he was resigning as foreign affairs minister and would soon quit his Ottawa West-Nepean seat in Parliament.

“I’m going to be brutally honest with you, no I wouldn’t have. I’d still be in the race,” she said. “That, coupled with the fact that Vic Fedeli had gotten out of the race made it very clear that I had some very tough decisions to make.”

MacLeod, who has a young daughter attending school in Ottawa, said she was getting a lot of “pressure” from constituents to “come back home” and run as a federal candidate.

It has been a “very intense” few days contemplating her future, added MacLeod, who insisted she still hasn’t decided if she will seek Baird’s seat once he officially resigns as an MP.

“The last 72 hours have changed my political reality,” she said. “I’ll let you know in a couple of weeks what I decide in terms of whether I’m going to pursue a federal career.”

MacLeod’s other decision was to throw her support behind perceived front-runner Christine Elliott, the deputy PC leader and widow of former finance minister Jim Flaherty, who was also endorsed by Fedeli when he withdrew on Wednesday.

Her decision to abandon a leadership bid comes on the day candidates must post $50,000 to stay in the race, which was one of the reasons Fedeli cited when he pulled out, but MacLeod insisted money was not the issue.

“We actually had to recall our $50,000 cheque for the deposit in the last 24 to 48 hours,” she said.

The two other remaining candidates for the PC leadership are London-area MPP Monte McNaughton and Barrie MP Patrick Brown, the only hopeful who doesn’t have a seat in the Ontario legislature.

Progressive Conservatives across the province will be eligible to vote in early May for the leader to replace Tim Hudak, who resigned after the Tories’ fourth consecutive election loss last June.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/lisa-macleod-withdraws-from-ontario-conservative-leadership-race/feed0Lisa MacLeodthecanadianpressOPP believe Liberals violated criminal code in Sudbury dealings: reportshttp://o.canada.com/news/national/opp-believe-liberals-violated-criminal-code-in-sudbury-dealings-reports
http://o.canada.com/news/national/opp-believe-liberals-violated-criminal-code-in-sudbury-dealings-reports#commentsFri, 06 Feb 2015 01:45:05 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=589526&preview_id=589526]]>TORONTO — Media reports say police believe two Ontario Liberals broke the law by offering a job to an individual in return for having him not run as a candidate in the Sudbury byelection.

The allegations are contained in an Ontario Provincial Police document sworn before a judge to get a production order for evidence, and was obtained by the Globe and Mail on Thursday.

The Globe and Mail report says OPP Det.-Const. Erin Thomas is quoted in the document as saying she “has reasonable grounds to believe and does believe” that the job offer to Andrew Olivier violates the criminal code.

Police cite section 125 (b), part of the code’s anti-corruption section, which prohibits “negotiating appointments.” The police allegations have not been tested in court, and no charges have been laid.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has denied that the Liberals made any specific offers to Olivier and has promised to co-operate with the police investigation.

Late last year Wynne asked Olivier, who ran for the Liberals in last year’s general election, not to seek the nomination for Thursday’s byelection because she wanted to appoint another candidate.

Olivier has alleged that the Liberals offered him a job or appointment in exchange for his stepping aside for Glenn Thibeault, who left his job as an NDP MP to run for the provincial Liberals.

Olivier, who is quadriplegic and records conversations in lieu of taking notes, posted audio to YouTube of his talks with two Liberals — Ontario Liberal campaign director Pat Sorbara and Gerry Lougheed, a Sudbury Liberal fundraiser.

In one of the recordings Olivier posted to YouTube, a man he identified as Lougheed says he is there on behalf of the premier to ask if he would consider stepping aside and nominating Thibeault, and telling Olivier they want to give him options “in terms of appointments, jobs or whatever.”

Olivier said Sorbara called him the next day and suggested Wynne had all but decided to appoint Thibeault as the candidate in favour of an open nomination race.

“We should have the broader discussion about what is it that you’d be most interested in doing, then decide what shape that could take that would fulfil that, is what I’m getting at, whether it’s a full-time or part-time job at a (constituency) office, whether it is appointments to boards or commissions, whether it is also going on the (party executive),” Sorbara is heard saying in the recording.

Wynne has said Olivier’s allegations are false, insisting that “there were no specific offers made in requests for any specific action” to Olivier.

The Liberals have said Olivier’s recordings vindicate them, as they were discussing ways Olivier could remain involved in the party or with accessibility work, but only after he was already told he wouldn’t be the candidate.

They also said Lougheed is neither a government nor Liberal staff member and speaks for himself.

In a statement to local media in December, Lougheed said that he does not have the authority to offer jobs and “at no time” did he promise Olivier a job or appointment if he stepped aside.

The opposition parties had asked the OPP to investigate Olivier’s allegations, suggesting they could contravene sections of the Criminal Code that relate to offering government advantages and securing appointments.

The OPP determined last month that no criminal offence was committed, but later reopen the investigation in light of Olivier’s audio.

A spokeswoman for Wynne said late Thursday that it is common for an investigator to make an assertion in order to obtain a warrant.

“It is in no way confirmation that an offense has occurred,” the spokeswoman said in an email.

Elections Ontario is also investigating and has interviewed both Wynne and Sorbara, after the New Democrats suggested the Liberals’ alleged conduct violates the Election Act.

Defence Minister Rob Nicholson announced the news in a conference call today with following the conclusion of the NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels.

Nicholson says one mission took place Wednesday and involved CF-18s hitting a compound that was used as a staging area for extremists who’ve been launching guerilla-style raids into Baghdad.

Another attack took place Feb. 3, when the Canadian fighter-bombers were supporting Iraqi troops operating southwest of Mosul, the country’s second largest city, which was overrun by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant last summer.

He also condemned the recent, brutal murder of Jordanian air force pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh, who was burned alive by his ISIL captors in a grisly execution that was recorded and distributed on the Internet.

The race has been overshadowed by criminal allegations against the Liberals and turncoat accusations aimed at their candidate.

Glenn Thibeault left the federal N-D-P to run for the provincial Liberals in the byelection, prompting federal Leader Tom Mulcair to call him untrustworthy and a turncoat.

The Liberals appointed Thibeault instead of holding a nomination contest and their previous candidate in the June general election alleges the party offered him a job or appointment in exchange for stepping aside.

The provincial police and Elections Ontario are investigating Andrew Olivier’s claims following complaints from the opposition parties.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne at a campaign event for then candidate Andrew Olivier (right) in Sudbury during the spring election campaign. She and her party operatives alter asked him to step aside for current candidate Glenn Thibeault. Olivier didn’t go quietly. (Frank Gunn/ Canadian Press)

Olivier is running as an independent, but polls suggest it’s a race between Thibeault and N-D-P candidate Suzanne Shawbonquit.

Olivier also released audio of his conversations with two Liberals, which he said back up his claims, but added he just wanted to focus on the issues in the campaign.

The Liberals have denied the bribery allegations, saying they were trying to keep Olivier involved in the party after Thibeault’s appointment was already decided.

The byelection was triggered when New Democrat Joe Cimino resigned after just five months on the job.

The Liberals had previously held the seat for 19 years, so with the former stronghold in play again, Wynne has showered attention on the riding. When she arrives in town today it will be her sixth visit since calling the byelection.

And, it seems voters are more engaged, with advance polls showing a higher turnout than advance polls in the general election.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/sudbury-voters-go-to-polls-today-in-hotly-contested-provincial-byelection/feed0Elections actthecanadianpressOntario Premier Kathleen Wynne at a campaign event for then candidate Andrew Olivier (right) in Sudbury during the spring election campaign. Frank Gunn/ Canadian PressChina releases Canadian woman held over spying suspicions; husband still detainedhttp://o.canada.com/news/china-releases-canadian-woman-held-over-spying-suspicions-husband-still-detained
http://o.canada.com/news/china-releases-canadian-woman-held-over-spying-suspicions-husband-still-detained#commentsThu, 05 Feb 2015 14:30:02 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=589262&preview_id=589262]]>BEIJING — China’s Foreign Ministry says a Canadian woman detained with her husband on suspicion of stealing state secrets has been released on bail.

Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday that Julia Garratt was released while the case remains under investigation.

She and her husband Kevin were detained on Aug. 4 by the state security bureau in China’s northeastern city of Dandong, which borders North Korea.

Hong said both have been charged with stealing secrets and spying and Kevin Garratt has been moved from residential surveillance to the more serious status of criminal detention.

“Kevin Garratt and Julia Garratt are under suspicion of undermining China’s state security,” Hong said. “Competent Chinese authorities will handle the case and ensure the legal rights of the two persons according to law.”

The Vancouver couple have lived in China since 1984 and opened a popular coffee shop in Dandong in 2008.

The Canadian Embassy in Beijing referred questions about the case to spokesmen in Ottawa.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper had discussed the plight of the Canadian couple during a visit to China last November.

Their son, Simeon, said at the time that he feared the Canadian government wasn’t putting enough pressure on the Chinese to release his parents.

The Garratts were out for dinner with friends when they were detained, with their four grown children simply told their parents were being held in an undisclosed location.

Two days later, the couple told their children, through a Canadian consular official, that they weren’t under any physical duress, but were confused and upset about the allegations.

Those allegations came just a few days after the Canadian government blamed Chinese hackers for infiltrating computers at the National Research Council of Canada, a claim Beijing vehemently denied.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa dismissed questions about the timing of the Garratts’ detention.

The couple’s children called the allegations against their parents “crazy,” noting that the pair has never had access to classified state information.

Simeon Garratt said when not serving customers, his parents spent their time helping locals practice their English and raising money for humanitarian aid sent to North Korea through a charity they helped set up.

– with files from The Associated Press

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/china-releases-canadian-woman-held-over-spying-suspicions-husband-still-detained/feed0CHINA-CANADA-ESPIONAGEthecanadianpressCoyne: Proposed anti-terrorism bill must stand or fall on its meritshttp://o.canada.com/news/national/coyne-new-anti-terrorism-bill-ultimately-must-stand-or-fall-on-its-own-merits
http://o.canada.com/news/national/coyne-new-anti-terrorism-bill-ultimately-must-stand-or-fall-on-its-own-merits#commentsThu, 05 Feb 2015 01:43:31 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=589144]]>There is a tendency, in discussions of national security, or civil liberties — perhaps in discussions of most things — for people to retreat into cliché.

Raise concerns, however well-founded, about the consequences of some proposed security measure for civil liberties, and prepare to be accused of making — for no one bothers to rebut arguments any more, they just name them — a “slippery slope” argument.

On the other hand, suggest that the peculiar threat posed by modern macro-terrorism may require some adjustment, however slight, in the traditional balance between freedom and order, and brace yourself for a lecture on the theme “the ends do not justify the means.”

Well, no. Some slopes are slippery. Merely because someone asserts the existence of a “slippery slope” — if we accept x then y will surely follow — is not enough either to prove or disprove their argument. It depends, rather, on the plausibility of the slipperiness. Likewise, it is no more true to say “the ends do not justify the means” — at all times, in all circumstances — than it is to say that they do. How can we know, without comparing them? The true statement is: some ends justify some means.

So to the government’s anti-terrorism legislation, Bill C-51. The tendency, as I say, has been for observers to condemn it unreservedly, or praise it without qualification. An example of the former was that now-legendary Globe and Mail editorial, in which it was asserted, on scant evidence, that the government was plotting to unleash a “secret police force” on the unsuspecting public.

The “secret police” in question is the quite well known Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), who would be given some modest new powers under the bill. As the editorial itself acknowledges, CSIS “will not be allowed to make arrests or detain suspects,” nor can it “kill or harm anyone.” It can’t even spy on anyone, at least in the cloak and dagger sense — entering their house, seizing documents, planting listening devices — without seeking, and obtaining, a warrant. The power to ask a judge for a warrant is not a power typically associated with secret police forces.

Nevertheless, these are new powers, untried and untested, and skepticism is in order. The scale of the threat, or rather threats, is open to debate — though with court dockets now bulging with terrorism cases, it’s hard to argue they don’t exist — as are the appropriate responses to each. A measure that might be justified in the name of preventing a mass atrocity on the scale of a Sept. 11 might not be justified in dealing with so-called “lone-wolf” attackers.

That’s why it’s vital to require both judicial oversight at the front end and close reporting and monitoring at the back, and while the bill is admirably full of examples of the former, the latter — particularly the desperately understaffed condition of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, CSIS’s overseer — is rather less in evidence.

But the mere fact that police and intelligence-gathering activities will henceforth not be contained within separate, airtight silos is not enough, in my view, to condemn the bill. While the Globe may wish to recall some long-ago abuses by the RCMP, when intelligence-gathering was part of its brief, other observers, Bob Rae among them, have a fresher memory in mind: the Air India attack, whose investigation was greatly impeded by the lack of communication between the RCMP and the newly minted CSIS.

More broadly, to say that the police and intelligence services already have all the powers they need to combat terrorism is to suggest that we struck the right balance between security and liberty on the first try, in public safety legislation passed in the wake of Sept. 11. If nothing else, that would be a remarkable coincidence. Though much of that bill has withstood scrutiny, much has happened since then: including the first successful jihadist attacks on Canadian soil.

No doubt the government sees political gain to be had in exploiting public fears, valid or otherwise. And certainly the prime minister’s cloddish, unyielding rhetoric does nothing to allay those suspicions. But that, too, is not enough to discredit the legislation. People can do the right things for the wrong reasons. (As, of course, they can do the reverse.) The bill must stand or fall on its own merits, weighing the harm it might do to civil liberties against the harm it seeks to avert: the old “reasonable limits” quandary.

Moreover, the bill need not be accepted or condemned in toto: different measures will raise different levels of concern. For example, I can see the case for preventive arrest, such as we already have on the books, in the case of the proverbial ticking time bomb: where the police have evidence, sufficient to persuade a judge, that someone is about to launch a terrorist attack — in the language of existing law, that an attack “will be” committed — it does not strike me as disproportionate to let them put him on ice for 72 hours.

I am less willing to accept the language in Bill C-51, allowing police to detain someone — for a full week — merely on the suspicion that they “may be” about to attack. This is not just “lowering the bar” on the use of preventive arrest, as it is sometimes put: it pretty much removes it altogether.

Likewise, the provision making it a crime to “promote” terrorism — not to counsel someone to commit a specific attack, as is already proscribed by current law, but just to endorse terrorism generally — is vastly overbroad, and almost certain to be struck down by the courts.

And that’s the backstop in all these discussions. Whatever measures the government may see fit to introduce, and whatever laws Parliament may pass, they must ultimately conform with the law of laws, the Constitution. Which ends justify which means? The courts will decide.

Postmedia News

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/national/coyne-new-anti-terrorism-bill-ultimately-must-stand-or-fall-on-its-own-merits/feed2Terror-Bill-20150130.jpgandrewcoyneCanadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper responds to a question during question period. Al-Jazeera reporter Peter Greste returns home to Australia after release from Egypthttp://o.canada.com/news/al-jazeera-reporter-peter-greste-returns-home-to-australia-after-release-from-egypt
http://o.canada.com/news/al-jazeera-reporter-peter-greste-returns-home-to-australia-after-release-from-egypt#commentsWed, 04 Feb 2015 17:15:38 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=588796&preview_id=588796]]>SYDNEY, Australia — An Al-Jazeera reporter who spent more than a year in an Egyptian prison returned home to Australia on Thursday, where he was greeted by friends and relieved family members who had tirelessly campaigned for his release.

Peter Greste, 49, who was released on Sunday after 400 days behind bars in a case widely condemned as a sham by human rights activists, landed in the Queensland state capital of Brisbane early Thursday morning after spending the past two days recuperating in Cyprus.

Supporters held up signs at the airport saying, “Journalism is not a crime.”

“I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am to be here,” Greste told reporters. “This is a moment I’ve rehearsed in my mind at least 400 times over the past, well, 400 days. But this is all tempered … by real worries for my colleagues.”

The fate of Greste’s still-jailed Egyptian colleagues remains unknown. Egyptian-Canadian Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed were arrested along with Greste in 2013 over their coverage of the violent crackdown on Islamist protests following the military overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi. Egyptian authorities accused them of providing a platform for Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, now declared a terrorist organization, though officials never provided concrete evidence.

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said this week that Fahmy’s release was imminent but gave no timeframe.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott thanked the Egyptian president by telephone on Tuesday for his help in securing Greste’s release.

Greste speaks to the media after his arrival in Brisbane. [AP Photo/Tertius Pickard]

Australian journalist Peter Greste is hugged by his mother Lois, left, and father Juris, right, after his arrival in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Greste, a reporter for Al-Jazeera English was released from an Egyptian prison and deported after more than a year behind bars. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard) [AP Photo/Tertius Pickard]

Australian journalist Peter Greste makes the peace sign to supporters after he arrived in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Greste, a reporter for Al-Jazeera English was released from an Egyptian prison and deported after more than a year behind bars. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard) []

Australian journalist Peter Greste is hugged by his mother Lois, left, and father Juris, right. [AP Photo/Tertius Pickard]

Greste is hugged by supporters after his release from an Egyptian prison. [AP Photo/Tertius Pickard]

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/al-jazeera-reporter-peter-greste-returns-home-to-australia-after-release-from-egypt/feed0AUSTRALIA-EGYPT-TRIAL-MEDIA-POLITICStheassociatedpresscanadaAustralian journalist Peter Greste waves to supporters after he arrived in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015.Greste speaks to the media after his arrival in Brisbane.Australian journalist Peter Greste is hugged by his mother Lois, left, and father Juris, right, after his arrival in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Greste, a reporter for Al-Jazeera English was released from an Egyptian prison and deported after more than a year behind bars. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)Australian journalist Peter Greste makes the peace sign to supporters after he arrived in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Greste, a reporter for Al-Jazeera English was released from an Egyptian prison and deported after more than a year behind bars. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)Australian journalist Peter Greste is hugged by his mother Lois, left, and father Juris, right. Greste is hugged by supporters after his release from an Egyptian prison.Greste flashes a peace sign at the cameras.Greste (R) embraces a friend upon his arrival. UK House of Commons OKs making babies from DNA of 3 peoplehttp://o.canada.com/news/uk-house-of-commons-oks-making-babies-from-dna-of-3-people
http://o.canada.com/news/uk-house-of-commons-oks-making-babies-from-dna-of-3-people#commentsTue, 03 Feb 2015 19:03:13 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=588260&preview_id=588260]]>By Maria Cheng

LONDON — Britain’s House of Commons gave preliminary approval Tuesday to permitting scientists to create babies from the DNA of three people, a technique that could protect some children from inheriting potentially fatal diseases from their mothers.

The bill must still needs approval by the House of Lords — and a further Commons vote on any amendments — before becoming law. If so, it would make Britain the first nation to allow embryos to be genetically modified.

Britain has long been a leader in reproductive technology; the world’s first baby from in vitro fertilization, Louise Brown, was born in the U.K. in 1978.

The vote in the House of Commons was 382-128 in favour. No date has been set for debate in the House of Lords but it is expected to be in the next few weeks. It would be unusual for it to reject legislation that has passed overwhelmingly in the Commons.

The contentious techniques — which aim to prevent mothers from passing on inherited diseases — involve altering a human egg or embryo before transferring it into the mother. Critics fear these techniques could lead to the creation of “designer babies.”

Defects in the mitochondria can result in diseases including muscular dystrophy, heart, kidney and liver failure and severe muscle weakness.

The technology is completely different from that used to create genetically modified foods, where scientists typically select individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another.

In the House of Commons, Health Minister Jane Ellison said the legislation was “a bold step to take, but it is a considered and informed step.”

Some say the techniques cross a fundamental scientific boundary, since the changes made to the embryos will be passed on to future generations.

Rachel Kean, activist and campaigner, outside the Palace of Westminster, after she witnessed the vote on 3 parent babies in the House of Commons. [AP Photo/Alastair Grant]

“(This is) about protecting children from the severe health risks of these unnecessary techniques and protecting everyone from the eugenic designer-baby future that will follow from this,” said David King, director of the secular watchdog group Human Genetics Alert.

The techniques would likely be used only in about a dozen British women every year who have faulty mitochondria, the energy-producing structures outside a cell’s nucleus, according to Britain’s Department of Health.

The technique involves removing the nucleus DNA from the egg of a prospective mother and inserting it into a donor egg from which the nucleus DNA has been removed. This can be done before or after fertilization.

The resulting embryo would have the nucleus DNA from its parents but the mitochondrial DNA from the donor. Scientists say the DNA from the donor egg amounts to less than 1 per cent of the resulting embryo’s genes.

Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration held a meeting to discuss the techniques and scientists warned it could take decades to determine if they are safe. Experts say the techniques are likely being used elsewhere, such as in China and Japan, but are mostly unregulated.

Rachel Kean, whose aunt suffered from mitochondrial disease and had several miscarriages and stillbirths, said she hoped British politicians would approve the techniques. Kean, an activist for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, said her mother is also a carrier of mitochondrial disease.

“Knowing that you could bring a child into this world for a short, painful life of suffering is not something I would want to do,” she said.

A spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said he was a “strong supporter” of the change. Cameron had a severely disabled son, Ivan, who died at age 6 in 2009, from a rare form of epilepsy.

Lisa Jardine, who chaired a review into the techniques conducted by Britain’s fertility regulator, said each case would be under close scrutiny and that doctors would track children born using this technique and their future offspring.

“Every medical procedure ultimately carries a small risk,” Jardine said, pointing out that the first baby created using in-vitro fertilization was the product of an experiment with unproven methods.

Kean said she understood the opposition to the new technology.

“It’s everybody’s prerogative to object, due to their own personal beliefs,” she said. “But to me the most ethical option is stopping these devastating diseases from causing suffering in the future.”

Associated Press Writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/uk-house-of-commons-oks-making-babies-from-dna-of-3-people/feed0Britain-3-Person-Babies.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaRachel Kean, activist and campaigner, outside the Palace of Westminster, after she witnessed the vote on 3 parent babies in the House of Commons.OPP seek recordings in Liberal byelection investigationhttp://o.canada.com/news/opp-seek-recordings-in-liberal-byelection-investigation
http://o.canada.com/news/opp-seek-recordings-in-liberal-byelection-investigation#commentsWed, 04 Feb 2015 13:39:35 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=588620&preview_id=588620]]>TORONTO — Ontario’s provincial police have gone to court to seek recordings in an investigation into allegations the province’s Liberals broke the law during the selection of a candidate for the Sudbury byelection.

Premier Kathleen Wynne asked Andrew Olivier, the Liberals’ candidate in Sudbury in last June’s general election, not to seek the nomination for Thursday’s byelection because she had another candidate she wanted to appoint.

Olivier has alleged that the Liberals offered him a job or appointment in exchange for his stepping aside for Glenn Thibeault, who left his job as an NDP MP to run for the provincial Liberals.

Olivier, who is quadriplegic and records conversations in lieu of taking notes, posted audio to YouTube of his talks with two Liberals, including Ontario Liberal campaign director Pat Sorbara.

The Progressive Conservatives asked the OPP to investigate, believing the Liberals’ alleged actions could contravene sections of the Criminal Code that relate to offering government advantages and securing appointments.

After interviewing Olivier the police found no evidence to conclude a criminal offence had been committed. But after Olivier posted the audio online, the Tories asked the OPP to take another look.

“Mr. Olivier had the opportunity to voluntarily offer the recordings he had made at the time to the OPP, but he chose not to do so, then he released recordings with two individuals via social media after that,” said OPP Det.-Supt. Dave Truax.

“Subsequent to that we’ve reviewed the matter further and since that time have obtained a production order.”

New Democrat MP Glenn Thibeault left the federal NDP to run for the provincial Liberals. In this 2011 file photo, he speaks at a press conference in Ottawa. [Sean Kilpatrick/ Canadian Press]

Elections Ontario is also investigating and has interviewed both Wynne and Sorbara, after the New Democrats suggested the Liberals’ alleged conduct violates the Election Act, which makes it an offence to promise a job or appointment to induce a person to withdraw their candidacy.

“The fact that Premier Kathleen Wynne and the Ontario Liberal Party are under investigation by Elections Ontario and the OPP anti-rackets squad for attempted bribery speaks volumes about their arrogance, entitlement and cynical politicking,” NDP MPP Gilles Bisson said in a statement.

The Liberals say Olivier’s recordings vindicate them, as they were discussing ways Olivier could remain involved in the party or with accessibility work, but only after he was already told he wouldn’t be the candidate.

“We should have the broader discussion about what is it that you’d be most interested in doing, then decide what shape that could take that would fulfil that, is what I’m getting at, whether it’s a full-time or part-time job at a (constituency) office, whether it is appointments to boards or commissions, whether it is also going on the (party executive),” Sorbara said in the conversation.

Olivier is now running in the byelection as an independent.

The Sudbury seat was vacated in November by New Democrat Joe Cimino, who resigned after just five months. The seat was previously a long-held Liberal riding and Sorbara told Olivier the premier is desperate — “desperate in a good way” — to get it back.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/opp-seek-recordings-in-liberal-byelection-investigation/feed0Kathleen Wynne; Andrew Olivier; Ella ProsperithecanadianpressNew Democrat MP Glenn Thibeault left the federal NDP to run for the provincial Liberals. In this 2011 file photo, he speaks at a press conference in Ottawa. U.K. House of Commons approves making babies from DNA of 3 peoplehttp://o.canada.com/health/u-k-house-of-commons-approves-making-babies-from-dna-of-3-people
http://o.canada.com/health/u-k-house-of-commons-approves-making-babies-from-dna-of-3-people#commentsTue, 03 Feb 2015 17:17:12 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=588167&preview_id=588167]]>By Maria Cheng

LONDON — British lawmakers in the House of Commons voted Tuesday to allow scientists to create babies from the DNA of three people — a move that could prevent some children from inheriting potentially fatal diseases from their mothers.

The vote in the House of Commons was 382-128 in favour. The bill must next be approved by the House of Lords before becoming law. If so, it would make Britain the first country in the world to allow embryos to be genetically modified.

The controversial techniques — which aim to prevent mothers from passing on inherited diseases — involve altering a human egg or embryo before transferring it into the mother. British law currently forbids any such modification and critics say approving the techniques could lead to the creation of “designer babies.”

The technology is completely different from that used to create genetically modified foods, where scientists typically select individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another.

In the House of Commons, health minister Jane Ellison kicked off the debate by urging support for the change.

“This is a bold step to take, but it is a considered and informed step,” she said, of the proposed technology to help women with mitochondrial diseases.

Critics, however, say the techniques cross a fundamental scientific boundary, since the changes made to the embryos will be passed on to future generations.

“(This is) about protecting children from the severe health risks of these unnecessary techniques and protecting everyone from the eugenic designer-baby future that will follow from this,” said David King, director of the secular watchdog group Human Genetics Alert.

The techniques would likely only be used in about a dozen British women every year who have faulty mitochondria, the energy-producing structures outside a cell’s nucleus. To fix that, scientists remove the nucleus DNA from the egg of a prospective mother and insert it into a donor egg from which the nucleus DNA has been removed. This can be done either before or after fertilization.

The resulting embryo would end up with the nucleus DNA from its parents but the mitochondrial DNA from the donor. Scientists say the DNA from the donor egg amounts to less than 1 per cent of the resulting embryo’s genes.

Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration held a meeting to discuss the techniques and scientists warned it could take decades to determine if they are safe. Experts say the techniques are likely being used elsewhere, such as in China and Japan, but are mostly unregulated.

Rachel Kean, whose aunt suffered from mitochondrial disease and had several miscarriages and stillbirths, said she hoped British politicians would approve the techniques. Kean, an activist for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, said her mother is also a carrier of mitochondrial disease and that she herself would like the option one day of having children who won’t be affected.

“Knowing that you could bring a child into this world for a short, painful life of suffering is not something I would want to do,” she said.

A spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said he was a “strong supporter” of the change. Cameron had a severely disabled son, Ivan, who died at age 6 in 2009, from a rare form of epilepsy.

Lisa Jardine, who chaired a review into the techniques conducted by Britain’s fertility regulator, said each case will be under close scrutiny and that doctors will track children born using this technique as well as their future offspring. She acknowledged there was still uncertainty about the safety of the novel techniques.

“Every medical procedure ultimately carries a small risk,” she said, pointing out that the first baby created using in-vitro fertilization would never have been born if scientists hadn’t risked experimenting with unproven methods.

Yet Kean said she understood the opposition to the new technology.

“It’s everybody’s prerogative to object, due to their own personal beliefs,” she said. “But to me the most ethical option is stopping these devastating diseases from causing suffering in the future.”

]]>http://o.canada.com/health/u-k-house-of-commons-approves-making-babies-from-dna-of-3-people/feed0Britain-3-Person-Babies.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaDetained Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy gives up Egyptian passport for freedomhttp://o.canada.com/news/detained-canadian-journalist-mohamed-fahmy-gives-up-egyptian-passport-for-freedom
http://o.canada.com/news/detained-canadian-journalist-mohamed-fahmy-gives-up-egyptian-passport-for-freedom#commentsMon, 02 Feb 2015 21:40:01 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=587898&preview_id=587898]]>CAIRO — An Egyptian-Canadian journalist imprisoned for more than a year in Cairo has relinquished his Egyptian citizenship as a condition of his freedom, his fiancee said Monday.

Marwa Omara said it was “a very hard” decision for Mohamed Fahmy.

“He is a proud Egyptian that comes from a family of military servicemen,” Omara said in an email to The Canadian Press.

“They told him: ‘Nationality is in the heart, and you can come in as a tourist’.”

It remained unclear when exactly Fahmy would be released.

However, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told CBC on Monday that Fahmy’s release was “imminent.” He declined to provide any more details.

The 40-year-old was expected to be deported to Canada when released.

Fahmy’s mother sent a public letter to Egypt’s president on the weekend, calling her son an “innocent” man in urgent need of medical treatment.

“Mr. President, as a journalist my son never strived to tarnish Egypt’s image. It’s this Al-Jazeera case that now smears Egypt’s reputation abroad,” wrote Wafa Abdel Hamid Bassiouni.

Fahmy and two Al Jazeera colleagues — Australian journalist Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohamed — were arrested in December 2013 and convicted of terror charges related to their coverage of the violent crackdown on Islamist protests. They were sentenced to between seven and 10 years.

Their trial sparked condemnation from human rights and media groups around the world.

Greste was finally freed on Sunday. In his first public comments since his release, Greste told Al Jazeera English that he experienced a “real mix of emotions” when he was freed because his colleagues remained in prison.

“It was a very difficult moment walking out of that prison, saying goodbye to the guys, not knowing how much longer they all have to put up with this,” he said.

Greste said his freedom was something of a “rebirth” and that the key to his well-being while incarcerated was exercising, studying and meditating.
Prison officials and Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency said Greste’s release resulted from a “presidential approval” and was co-ordinated with the Australian embassy.

Egyptian authorities had accused the three journalists of providing a platform for ousted president Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, now declared a terrorist organization. But authorities provided no concrete evidence.

The three were widely seen as having been caught up in a regional power struggle between Egypt and Qatar, which funds Al Jazeera and had been a strong Morsi backer.

The journalists and their supporters insisted they were simply doing their jobs during a time of violent upheaval.

— By Colin Perkel in Toronto.

–With files from The Associated Press

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/detained-canadian-journalist-mohamed-fahmy-gives-up-egyptian-passport-for-freedom/feed0Mohammed-Fahmy.jpgthecanadianpressNova Scotia student dies from case of meningitishttp://o.canada.com/health/nova-scotia-student-dies-from-case-of-meningitis
http://o.canada.com/health/nova-scotia-student-dies-from-case-of-meningitis#commentsMon, 02 Feb 2015 16:48:15 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=587664&preview_id=587664]]>WOLFVILLE, N.S. — A student at a Nova Scotia university has died from bacterial meningitis, Nova Scotia’s chief public health officer said Monday.

Dr. Robert Strang said he was called Saturday when a young woman was brought into the emergency department at the Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville, near Wolfville where she was studying at Acadia University.

He said the woman, whose identity was not being released at her family’s request, was already in critical condition and died the following day in hospital despite being given antibiotics.

“Sometimes infectious diseases can be extremely rapidly progressive and despite the best medical attention we’re not able to be successful in treatment,” he said.

He said they are doing tests to determine what kind of bacterial meningitis affected the young woman, who is not from Nova Scotia. He said that can help determine what kind of vaccine should be given to people who were deemed to be close contacts of the student’s.

Health officials have been talking to people who were in contact with the student and have administered antibiotics in six people. He said none of those contacts has shown signs of illness.

University spokesman Scott Roberts said the school was informed by health officials that a student had become sick on the weekend and died Sunday. He said they’re working with the Health Department to provide people with information on the illness.

“At this point it’s a single isolated case in time on the campus,” he said. “For the general campus community there’s no increased risk.”

Strang said the symptoms of meningitis include fever, headache, a purplish rash and a fast progression of illness.

A Halifax-area high school student died last week after contracting meningitis. Before these two fatalities, Strang said there had not been a death linked to meningitis in the last decade.

]]>http://o.canada.com/health/nova-scotia-student-dies-from-case-of-meningitis/feed0Ruth RutledgethecanadianpressHong Kongers march for democracy in first major rally since mass street protests last yearhttp://o.canada.com/news/hong-kongers-march-for-democracy-in-first-major-rally-since-mass-street-protests-last-year
http://o.canada.com/news/hong-kongers-march-for-democracy-in-first-major-rally-since-mass-street-protests-last-year#commentsSun, 01 Feb 2015 14:48:25 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=587200&preview_id=587200]]>HONG KONG — Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators marched through Hong Kong’s streets Sunday in the first major rally since mass protests last year.

Chanting “No fake universal suffrage. I want genuine universal suffrage,” the demonstrators held yellow umbrellas, which became a symbol of the earlier protests when the activists wielded them as a defence against police using pepper spray.

Student leader Alex Chow, center, carries a banner with other students during a democracy march to Central, demanding for universal suffrage in Hong Kong Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015. The banner reads: “Withdraw.” [AP Photo/Kin Cheung]

The event appeared orderly and peaceful throughout the day. The annual march usually is held on Jan. 1 but was delayed for a month this year to coincide with the government’s second round of consultations on electoral reform.

The demonstrators oppose the Chinese government’s decision that candidates in the 2017 election for Hong Kong chief executive will be vetted by a largely Beijing-controlled nominating committee.

The final election plan must be approved by a two-thirds majority in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council before submitting to authorities in Beijing. But pro-democracy legislators, who hold 40 per cent of the seats, have said they would veto the screening proposal.

“This is pseudo universal suffrage, we do not have the rights to elect who we want,” said protester Julia Choi.

Organizers said 13,000 people participated, while police said they counted 8,000 at the march’s peak.

Police had raised no objection to the march, though the formal notice the department issued last weekend stressed that organizers should ensure none of the marchers tried to occupy streets as happened during the mass protests last year.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/hong-kongers-march-for-democracy-in-first-major-rally-since-mass-street-protests-last-year/feed0Hong-Kong-Democracy-Protest.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaStudent leader Alex Chow, center, carries a banner with other students during a democracy march to Central, demanding for universal suffrage in Hong Kong Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015. The march is the first large-scale demonstration since the Occupy Central protest ended last year as the government started a second round of public consultation on democratic reform. The banner reads: "Withdraw."Thousands of pro-democracy activists take part in a democracy march to Central, demanding for universal suffrage in Hong Kong Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015. The march is the first large-scale demonstration since the Occupy Central protest ended last year as the government started a second round of public consultation on democratic reform. The yellow banners read: "I want genuine universal suffrage."Rights group Amnesty says Egyptian authorities covering up protester deathshttp://o.canada.com/news/rights-group-amnesty-says-egyptian-authorities-covering-up-protester-deaths
http://o.canada.com/news/rights-group-amnesty-says-egyptian-authorities-covering-up-protester-deaths#commentsSun, 01 Feb 2015 14:44:01 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=587212&preview_id=587212]]>CAIRO — Rights group Amnesty International on Sunday accused Egyptian authorities of intimidating witnesses and whitewashing evidence to cover up the role of security forces in the killing of more than two dozen people during protests last week.

The London-based Amnesty said at least 27 people were killed over three days during protests commemorating the fourth anniversary of the uprising against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. It said police used excessive force or failed to break up clashes between protesters and residents.

Those killed included a female protester, Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, whose shooting as police dispersed a small, peaceful protest was captured in widely-shared footage. A 17-year-old female protester and 10-year-old were killed during clashes with police in Cairo and Alexandria. Two security men were also killed in the violence.

Based on testimony from protesters, lawyers, witnesses and video footage, Amnesty said security forces used excessive force, repeatedly firing tear gas, birdshot and sometimes bullets “at random into crowds of protesters and bystanders who were posing no threat.”

Egyptian police try to clear the street where women rally at the spot where Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, a 32-year-old mother, was shot in downtown Cairo on Saturday near Talaat Harb Square, during a protest in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. [AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell]

It also said some among the protesters were armed.

“Harrowing scenes of protesters dying on the streets of Cairo are likely to be regularly repeated, given authorities’ total failure to hold security forces to account for human rights violations,” the group said.

Amnesty said hundreds of protesters have been rounded up and placed in informal detention facilities. It said some had no access to their lawyers for more than 24 hours, a violation of Egyptian law.

Amnesty said prosecutors have ordered witnesses to the killing of el-Sabbagh detained for taking part in unauthorized protests, a move it said was apparently aimed at intimidating them. A lawyer in el-Sabbagh’s case said a leading member in her political party was detained overnight and treated as a suspect even though he went in to testify.

Amnesty said there are no independent investigations into the violence and that no officials have been questioned or held to account.

Egyptian officials did not immediately comment on the report. Authorities say they are cracking down on violent protests aimed at destabilizing the country, as they fight a rising wave of militant attacks.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/rights-group-amnesty-says-egyptian-authorities-covering-up-protester-deaths/feed0Mideast-Egypt-Killed-Protester.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaEgyptian police try to clear the street where women rally at the spot where Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, a 32-year-old mother, was shot in downtown Cairo on Saturday near Talaat Harb Square, during a protest in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. Egypt's police are coming under withering criticism as signs mount that police officers not only fired birdshot at Shaimaa el-Sabbagh during a peaceful protest last weekend but then also hampered efforts to save her life by ignoring pleas to let an ambulance take her away. Islamic extremists attack Maiduguri, biggest city in northeast Nigeria, from 4 frontshttp://o.canada.com/news/islamic-extremists-attack-maiduguri-biggest-city-in-northeast-nigeria-from-4-fronts
http://o.canada.com/news/islamic-extremists-attack-maiduguri-biggest-city-in-northeast-nigeria-from-4-fronts#commentsSun, 01 Feb 2015 14:38:04 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=587204&preview_id=587204]]>MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Nigerian troops Sunday repelled Islamic extremists who attacked from four fronts on Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeast Nigeria, with several civilians killed by aerial bombs and grenades and mortar shells on the ground.

Soldiers said hundreds of insurgents died.

Terrified residents fled homes shaking from five hours of heavy artillery fire and streamed in from the outskirts of the besieged city of 2 million, already crowded with another 200,000 refugees from the fighting.

For weeks Boko Haram has been closing in on Maiduguri, the groups spiritual birthplace, and if it were able to plant its Islamic State-style flag there, even briefly, it would give them a major boost as the group loses ground in remoter areas, said Jacob Zenn, author of a book about the insurgents.

A car passes with chickens tied on the roof and hanging from the windows with a full load of people inside, some sitting outside the boot, as they travel away from violence in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. Islamic extremists are rampaging through villages in northeast Nigeria’s Adamawa state, killing, burning and looting with no troops deployed to protect civilians, fleeing villagers said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola)

Its third attack in a week on Maiduguri came as Chadian forces launched a winning offensive, acting on an African Union directive for Nigeria’s neighbours to help fight the spreading Islamic uprising by Nigeria’s home-grown Boko Haram extremists.

International outrage has grown over attacks across the border into Cameroon and increasing ferocity that culminated in the slaughter of hundreds of civilians in Baga on Jan. 3.

A Chadian jet fighter supported by ground troops bombed the extremists out of Gamboru and Kolfata on Saturday and from Malumfatori on Thursday, witnesses said.

Chadian troops in Kolfata were “dancing around their country’s flag and chanting,” farmer Awami Kolobe said, quoting refugees who returned across the border from Cameroon. The towns had been under the sway of Boko Haram for months. Gamboru is about 140 kilometres (85 miles) northeast of Maiduguri, and Baga is another 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Gamboru, on Lake Chad, where Nigeria’s borders converge with Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

African leaders at a summit Saturday authorized the creation of a 7,500-strong multinational force to fight Boko Haram.

Boko Haram warned against the coalition and said it will attack Niger, if it sends troops, just as it has attacked Cameroon, according to a message posted Sunday by the SITE intelligence monitoring service.

In Maiduguri, a senior army officer said the militants were “everywhere,” attacking from all four roads leading into the city.

People including stranded villagers at a local market after recent violence in surrounding areas at Maiduguri, Nigeria. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola)

Another officer said hundreds of insurgents, as many as 500, were killed before they took flight Sunday and many weapons were recovered including artillery guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Both officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not supposed to speak to reporters.

Witnesses said some bombs launched from a Nigerian jet fighter killed civilians. Many homes were hit by bombs, including one in Zannari neighbourhood that killed seven civilians, according to neighbours who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from the military.

Ahmadu Marima said troops shot and killed five young men from a civilian self-defence group in his Abujantalakawa suburb, mistaking them for insurgents.

An elderly man and his granddaughter died when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded in their front garden, injuring a second girl, Marima said.

The government declared a state of emergency in three northeastern states in May 2013 after Boko Haram took control of dozens of villages and towns. Troops quickly drove the insurgents out but since then, ill-equipped and demoralized, have been losing ground.

In August, Boko Haram declared an Islamic caliphate and now holds about 130 towns and villages.

The uprising killed about 10,000 people last year, compared to about 2,000 in the first four years, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations.

Haruna Umar And Michelle Faul

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/islamic-extremists-attack-maiduguri-biggest-city-in-northeast-nigeria-from-4-fronts/feed0Nigeria-Violence.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaA car passes with chickens tied on the roof and hanging from the windows with a full load of people inside, some sitting outside the boot, as they travel away from violence in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. Islamic extremists are rampaging through villages in northeast Nigeria's Adamawa state, killing, burning and looting with no troops deployed to protect civilians, fleeing villagers said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola)People including stranded villagers at a local market after recent violence in surrounding areas at Maiduguri, Nigeria. Islamic extremists are rampaging through villages in northeast Nigeria's Adamawa state, killing, burning and looting with no troops deployed to protect civilians, fleeing villagers said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola)Japan condemns online video purportedly showing Islamic State group beheading hostage Gotohttp://o.canada.com/news/is-beheading-586958
http://o.canada.com/news/is-beheading-586958#commentsSat, 31 Jan 2015 20:35:28 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=586958&preview_id=586958]]>By Elaine Kurtenbach And Yuri Kageyama

TOKYO — Japan condemned with outrage and horror on Sunday an online video that purported to show an Islamic State group militant beheading Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.

The video posted on militant websites late Saturday Middle East time ended days of negotiations to save Goto, a 47-year-old journalist, and heightened fears for the life of a Jordanian fighter pilot also held hostage.

“When I think of the grief of his family, I am left speechless,” he said. “The government has been doing its utmost in responding to win his release, and we are filled with deep regret.”

This image made from a video released by Islamic State militants on Saturday purports to show a militant standing next to Japanese journalist Kenji Goto before his beheading by the militant group. Goto was captured in October 2014, after he travelled to Syria to try to win the release of Haruna Yukawa. [AP Photo]

Abe vowed that Japan will not give in to terrorism and will continue to provide humanitarian aid to countries fighting the Islamic State extremists.

The defence minister, Gen Nakatani, said that a report from the foreign affairs chief of Japan’s police agency deemed the video “highly likely to be authentic.”

The country was mourning a man who according to friends and family braved hardship and peril to convey through his work the plight of refugees, children and other victims of war and poverty.

“I was hoping Keji might be able to come home,” said Goto’s brother, Junichi Goto. “I was hoping he would return and thank everyone for his rescue, but that’s impossible, and I’m bitterly disappointed.”

Ishido earlier told NHK TV her son’s death showed he was a kind, gentle man, trying to save another hostage. That hostage, Haruna Yukawa, was shown as purportedly killed in an earlier video.

The White House released a statement in which President Barack Obama also condemned “the heinous murder” and praised Goto’s reporting, saying he “courageously sought to convey the plight of the Syrian people to the outside world.”

The White House said that while it isn’t confirming the authenticity of the video itself, it has confirmed that Goto has been slain.

The militants linked the fates of Goto and the Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath Kaseasbeh, but Saturday’s video did not mention the airman. Jordan’s government spokesman, Mohammed al-Momani, declined comment. Earlier this week, Jordan offered to free an al-Qaida prisoner for the pilot, but demanded and said it never got proof he was still alive.

Late Saturday night, relatives and supporters of the pilot held a candlelit vigil inside a family home in Karak, al-Kaseasbeh’s hometown in southern Jordan.

We “decided to hold this protest to remind the Jordanian government of the issue of the imprisoned pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh,” said the pilot’s brother Jawdat al-Kaseasbeh, holding picture of Muath with a caption: “We are all Muath.”

President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington.

Al-Kaseasbeh’s uncle, Yassin Rawashda, said the family just wants to be kept informed.

“We want to know how the negotiations are going … in a positive direction or not. And we want the family to be (involved) in the course of negotiations,” he said.

Saturday’s video, highlighted by militant sympathizers on social media sites, bore the symbol of the Islamic State group’s al-Furqan media arm.

Though it could not be immediately independently verified by The Associated Press, it conformed to other beheading videos released by the extremists, who now control about a third of both Syria and neighbouring Iraq in a self-declared caliphate.

The video, called “A Message to the Government of Japan,” shows a man who looks and sounds like a militant with a British accent shown in other beheading videos by the Islamic State group. Goto, kneeling in an orange prison jumpsuit, said nothing in the roughly one-minute-long video.

“Abe, because of your reckless decision to take part in an unwinnable war, this knife will not only slaughter Kenji, but will also carry on and cause carnage wherever your people are found. So let the nightmare for Japan begin,” the man says.

In Tokyo, Goto’s friend Hiromasa Nakai said he was still hoping against hope that the video was not authentic.

“I only can say I’m hoping this is not true,” he said.

Passersby react as they receive extra newspapers in Tokyo reporting about an online video that purported to show an Islamic State group militant beheading Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, Sunday morning.

Goto was captured after he travelled to Syria in October to try to rescue Yukawa, a 42-year-old adventurer, from the Islamic State group.

The Jordanian pilot was captured after his fighter plane went down in December over an Islamic State-controlled area of Syria.

Earlier this week, Jordan offered to release an al-Qaida prisoner for the pilot. However, in a purported online message earlier this week, the militants threatened to kill the pilot if the prisoner wasn’t released by Thursday. That deadline passed, and the families of the pilot and the journalist were left waiting in agony.

Late Friday, Japan’s deputy foreign minister reported a deadlock in efforts to free Goto. Jordan and Japan had reportedly conducted indirect negotiations with the militants through Iraqi tribal leaders.

The hostage drama began last week when the militants threatened to kill Goto and Yukawa in 72 hours unless Japan paid $200 million.

Later, the militants’ demand shifted to seeking the release of the al-Qaida prisoner, Sajijda al-Rishawi, 44, who faces death by hanging in Jordan for her role in triple hotel bombings in Amman in 2005. Sixty people were killed in those attacks, the worst terror attack in Jordan’s history.

Al-Rishawi has close family ties to the Iraq branch of al-Qaida, a precursor of the Islamic State group.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/is-beheading-586958/feed0JAPAN-IRAQ-SYRIA-CONFLICT-US-HOSTAGEtheassociatedpresscanadaThis image made from a video released by Islamic State militants on Saturday purports to show a militant standing next to Japanese journalist Kenji Goto before his beheading by the militant group. Goto was captured in October 2014, after he travelled to Syria to try to win the release of Haruna Yukawa.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to "never forgive terrorists" after Islamic State released a video purportedly showing the beheading of hostage Kenji Goto. President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Passersby react as they receive extra newspapers in Tokyo reporting about an online video that purported to show an Islamic State group militant beheading Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, Sunday morning. Montreal blocks imam Hamza Chaoui’s project to open Islamic community centrehttp://o.canada.com/news/montreal-blocks-imam-hamza-chaoui-project-to-open-islamic-community-centre-586953
http://o.canada.com/news/montreal-blocks-imam-hamza-chaoui-project-to-open-islamic-community-centre-586953#commentsSat, 31 Jan 2015 20:01:56 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=586953&preview_id=586953]]>By Alain Martineau

MONTREAL — The Islamic community centre that controversial imam Hamza Chaoui had hoped to open in east Montreal will not see the light of day, local officials said.

Real Menard, mayor of the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, told a news conference Saturday he would not grant Chaoui an operating licence to open a centre in the neighbourhood.

Chaoui, a Moroccan-born imam who has made statements deemed homophobic and sexist, had not yet applied for such a permit.

He has described Islam and democracy as “completely” incompatible.

Menard said he based the pre-emptive decision on security considerations, but added that places of worship were not permitted in the area the youth centre was planned to be established.

He added the borough council would meet to redefine what constitutes a community and cultural centre, and religious instruction would be excluded.

“The measure would freeze any demand for a certificate of occupation for a community centre,” Menard said.

Reached over the phone by The Canadian Press on Saturday afternoon, Chaoui said he was too busy to comment on the situation.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre backed Menard’s decision, saying it was an issue of public order and safety, and not freedom of expression.

Coderre described Chaoui as an “agent of radicalization and instigator of social tension.”

“It could provoke things. Lone wolves can exist and that’s the fruit of radicalization,” Coderre said.

The mayor added he could have intervened to block Chaoui’s project under city laws by arguing that it would cause “disturbances to the public order.”

Coderre said the city was ready to tackle any legal challenges.

“We feel solid if ever there are legal proceedings. Our role is to govern and to make sure to have a balance between openness and vigilance,” Coderre said, adding he did not want to stigmatize Montreal’s Muslim community.

The case had nothing to do with religion, he said.

Coderre, who was a federal minister at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, urged members of Parliament to adopt new anti-terrorism legislation, tabled by the federal government Friday, as soon as possible.

BAGHDAD — A series of bombings in and around the Iraqi capital killed nine people Saturday and a senior Kurdish commander died in clashes with Islamic State militants in northern Iraq.

A bomb exploded near a sheep market Saturday morning in the town of Madain, about 20 kilometres (14 miles) southeast of Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 11, police officials said.

A second blast struck near a string of car repair shops in central Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 10.

Authorities said another explosion also struck an army patrol in the town of Taji, just north of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and wounding four.

Medics confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

Meanwhile, two Kurdish security officers said Saturday that Kurdish Brig. Gen. Hussein Mansour was killed Friday night by a sniper shot near the oil rich city of Kirkuk during clashes between IS fighters and Kurdish security forces, known also as peshmerga.

The two officials said that Mansour has just replaced Brig. Gen. Shirko Fatih, who was killed early Friday after IS militants attacked peshmerga fighters’ positions near Kirkuk.

Iraq is facing its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops. Militants from the Islamic State group now control about a third of the country. They are being resisted by a combined force of Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish peshmerga, and volunteer Shiite militiamen, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

You know someone who has suddenly stopped swimming? Have they changed their eating habits? Or are they perhaps shunning loved ones? The French government is now warning those may be signs they are radicalizing.

Three weeks after France was ravaged by a terror rampage as three self-proclaimed Islamists shot and killed 17 people, the interior ministry is stepping up its campaign against homegrown insurgents. The ministry on Friday published a poster alerting people to watch for telltale signs that friends or family members are being lured by radical Islam.

The billboard-style ad is titled in capitals, “JIHADIST RADICALIZATION — THE FIRST WARNING SIGNS.” The poster has nine pictograms including a crossed-out baguette captioned “They’re changing their eating habits” and a swimmer with a cross superimposed carrying the words “They’re stopping sports.” The ad provides a hotline to call to identify such people.

The campaign shows just how the attacks have affected the French psyche, bringing a siege mentality to the government’s actions. Weeks after the three-day attacks in and near Paris, the capital remains on the highest terror alert. Thousands of police and soldiers guard schools, places of worship and cultural sites in Paris and other cities.

“France is in a moment like the U.S. was post 9/11 and it’s hard to know where it will end,” Sefen Guez Guez, a lawyer dealing with a post-attacks case, said in an interview. “There is a state of collective hysteria.”

The country was hit by three separate attacks this month, starting with the killing of 12 people at the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7. That was followed by the slaying of a policewoman the next day and of four hostages at a kosher grocery the day after that. The assaults were the deadliest in France for more than half a century.

French anti-radicalization poster.

Even before the recent killing spree, France passed a law intended to toughen the stance against the recruitment of young people for wars in the Middle East or to wreak violence on its soil.

The new rules included a special hotline for families and relatives who want to warn the state about a child or family member they believe is prepared to wage religious war.

“Incitement” and “defense of terrorism” were already criminal offenses. The November law fast-tracks court rulings — sometimes within a week.

Now the crackdown is being taken to a new level.

Police in Nice questioned an 8-year-old boy and his father this week on suspicion of “defending terrorism” after the principal of his primary school reported that he said “he was on the side of the terrorists” during a classroom discussion.

In western France, a high school philosophy teacher was suspended on similar grounds after parents complained about his “inappropriate comments” to his pupils about the attacks.

The teacher denies “defending terrorism,” according to La Nouvelle Republique newspaper. His disciplinary hearing is scheduled for March.

“The spirit of the law has been hijacked since the attacks,” said Guez Guez, who’s representing the boy. “An 8- year-old is not what France is after.”

The two met on the eve of the meeting, being held just a few blocks from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office, to discuss a host of issues.

Trudeau says Canadians want collaborative leadership from the federal government, and they believe there’s a real need for provincial, territorial and federal officials to work together.

He says he’s sat down with most premiers across the country to engage with them on an array of issues, and says Harper should be doing the same.

The Conservatives say Harper regularly has one-on-one meetings with the premiers.

Wynne is reiterating her belief that it would be better for the premiers to have an ongoing dialogue with the prime minister as a group. New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant also says it’s unfortunate Harper hasn’t met with the premiers as a group in years.

Earlier today, the Liberals tabled a motion in Parliament calling on Harper to meet annually with his provincial counterparts.